Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday toured Beersheba and the city's Advanced Technologies Park at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, which was inaugurated in September 2013, and discussed the area's potential in the field of high-tech. "What we are seeing in Beersheba is very significant progress, a global revolution," he said. According to Netanyahu, the revolution affords Israel a great deal of financial clout, along with military and security strength. However, he said, "It requires a detachment from the regular templates and establishing a vision." Joining the prime minister on tour of the largest city in southern Israel, located in the Negev desert, was Forbes magazine owner, billionaire Steve Forbes. "This is the future." Netanyahu told Forbes. "The future of the global economy depends on the Internet economy, and that cannot grow without cybersecurity. We need to find solutions to safeguard banking systems, electronic systems and air transportation. Cyber defense is a necessity, and it is our intention to be the leader in this field." The tour was also attended by Beersheba Mayor Ruvik Danilovich, Ben-Gurion University President Professor Rivka Carmi and the head of Israel's National Cyber Bureau, Dr. Eviatar Matania. "The true wealth of the State of Israel doesn't lie in natural gas fields," said Danilovich, "rather in the quality human capital currently gathering in the Negev, in the academic institutions and the best intelligence and teleprocessing minds that come through here."
