Vendors Cite Global Teams as Iran War Raises Travel Questions From Israel
Israeli vendors still plan to attend RSAC 2026 despite the ongoing Iran war, but might lean more heavily on U.S. colleagues to staff the show.
See Also: Why AI Data Governance Is Now a Business Imperative
An RSAC spokesperson said the impact of the Iran war on exhibitor, speaker and attendee attendance plans has thus far been minimal. That’s despite Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport limiting departures starting Sunday to just two aircraft per hour with no more than 70 passengers per flight due to continued missile and rocket attacks from Iran and Lebanon, The Times of Israel reported Friday.
The launch of the U.S.-Israel offensive on Iran Saturday stranded 37,000 tourists in Israel and 120,000 Israelis abroad as the country’s airspace remained completely shut from Saturday until Wednesday night, according to The Times of Israel. The situation is similar in the Persian Gulf, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi operating a limited flight schedule while flights to and from Qatar remained suspended on Friday.
Some companies including Cato Networks and Check Point currently anticipate that Israeli executives or staff will be able to travel in two weeks to San Francisco for RSAC 2026, though plans may depend on travel safety or airspace availability. Companies such as Allot were already planning to staff RSAC entirely with U.S.-based workers, while firms like Cyera and Silverfort sounded a more cautious note on travel (see: Cyberattacks and Unpredictable Targeting Remain an Iran Risk).
“We plan to attend RSAC 2026,” Orca Security co-founder and CEO Gil Geron told Information Security Media Group in an email. “We are confident that our Israeli team will be able to attend, as they are highly motivated to participate. They have shown great resilience over the last 2.5 years and continue to support one another to ensure our customers and business are fully supported.”
Will Executives, Employees From Israel Travel to RSAC?
A plurality of Orca’s 500 employees are based in Israel, according to IT-Harvest, though Geron is based in New York and Chief Revenue Officer Raf Chiodo works from Philadelphia. Security companies founded in Israel often relocate their headquarters to the U.S. – which Orca did – once they have a critical mass of paying customers, though R&D functions often remain in Israel due to the very qualified technical talent.
“Regardless of when the war ends, Allot is still planning to send delegates to RSAC 2026,” an Allot spokesperson told ISMG in an email. “From the start, our plan was to send delegates who reside in the U.S. to RSAC 2026. We, therefore, do not plan to send personnel from Israel to the event. At this point, Allot has no plans to alter its presence at RSAC 2026.”
Just 8% of Allot’s nearly 900 employees are based in the United States, according to IT-Harvest, with 20% of the network security and intelligence vendor’s workforce located in India and most of the remaining 72% based in Israel. Cyber companies founded in Israel tend to concentrate their sales and marketing employees in the United States since it’s the largest market for buying security technology.
“Our booth is staffed by members from our U.S. sales and marketing teams,” a Radware spokesperson told ISMG in an email. “Other members of management who are based in the U.S. will be in attendance as well. From Israel, we plan to have CEO Roy Zisapel and CTO David Aviv. David is presently outside Israel right now.”
Nearly half of Radware’s 1,208 employees were based in Israel as of Dec. 31, 2024, making it the country with the most Radware workers, according to regulatory filings. That’s similar to Check Point Software, which also has its largest base of employees in Israel with 2,874 of the company’s 6,669 workers located there as of Dec. 31, 2024. Many Check Point executives – including CEO Nadav Zafrir – also live in Israel.
“We have a very big plan for RSA and we plan to execute it as such, originally planned by U.S.-based teams and some folks from Israel,” a Check Point spokesperson told ISMG. “We are not dependent on the Israeli team, but we do plan to send them out to RSA and there will be ways to ensure this by then. In general, things will be executed as planned.”
Israeli Vendors Plans to Lean on US Staff for RSAC Coverage
That’s similar to the message from Cato Networks, which said executives from Israel will attend RSAC 2026 and that the Tel Aviv, Israel-based SASE provider won’t be adjusting or modifying its presence at the show. Roughly two-thirds of Cato’s more than 1,550 employees are based in Israel, according to IT-Harvest, with the United States a distant second with the 24% of the company’s employees.
“Cyera will certainly still be in attendance at RSA this year!” a Cyera spokesperson told ISMG. “Much of the Israel team’s attendance will depend on air space and safety to travel, but regardless, we’ll have a robust team presence on the ground from our global offices. We’ll be keeping an eye on the situation as things progress and will work with our individual teams on what’s best for them.”
More than half of Cyera’s nearly 1,300-person workforce is based in the United States, according to IT-Harvest, while Israel has the second most Cyera employees. Pentera is based in the U.S., though Israel remains its largest country by headcount. A Pentera spokesperson said its RSAC presence will be staffed primarily by U.S.-based team members, with plans proceeding as scheduled for staff from elsewhere.
“Yes, Silverfort currently plans to attend RSAC,” a Silverfort spokesperson told ISMG. “As we get closer to the event, we will reassess the situation and make any adjustments needed to ensure our team-s well-being. As a global company, we continue operating as usual while also providing our Israeli team members the space and flexibility they need to support their families during this time.”
More than half of Silverfort’s nearly 600-person workforce is based in Israel, according to IT-Harvest, with the U.S. a distant second with less than a third of Silverfort employees.