Israel’s Directorate of Defense Research & Development (DDR&D), known by its Hebrew acronym MAFAT, has long been the powerhouse behind the country’s most groundbreaking military technologies. From the Iron Dome missile defense system to cutting-edge AI and autonomous platforms, MAFAT is the strategic nerve center of Israel’s defense innovation ecosystem.
MAFAT, a joint Israel Defense Ministry (IMOD) and IDF body, headed by Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Danny Gold produces exceptional results in defense research and development. It is responsible for developing innovative concepts for defense technology, managing the IMOD’s short and long-term projects, overseeing the research and development (R&D) of defense technology, and working with international partners, as well as training the next generation of Israel’s defense tech professionals.
MAFAT also works extensively with Israeli civilian companies and start-ups that have become critical in providing the technology that makes it possible for the IDF to outflank its enemies, especially since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War two years ago.
Gal Harari, MAFAT’s chief technology officer (CTO), rarely speaks to the media, let alone the English-language media. But after two years of exhaustive war on several fronts, Harari spoke to Defense & Tech by The Jerusalem Post for an extensive interview on MAFAT’s work and how technology has evolved in the 20 years since he joined the organization.
“MAFAT is responsible for shaping the landscape of the future. There are new missions, new products… and MAFAT is a crucial design player,” Harari said. The directorate, long central to Israel’s defense technology, is increasingly tasked with anticipating new domains of warfare and integrating emerging technologies.
A physicist by training, with a PhD from the Technion, Harari specializes in quantum mechanics and electro-optics. Since taking on the CTO role in 2021, he has steered Israel’s R&D strategy toward artificial intelligence (AI), advanced optics, and next-generation battlefield technologies.
Harari’s career spans government research posts and academic work at the Technion, where he focused on laser physics and quantum optics. Today, he is a key figure linking Israel’s defense establishment with start-ups and academia, a role that has gained urgency since the Oct. 7 attacks, which accelerated the military’s reliance on rapid innovation.
The rise of Israel’s defense-tech ecosystem
Israel has long been recognized as the Start-Up Nation, but in recent years it has increasingly branded itself as a defense-tech nation.
Speaking at the Defense Tech conference at the beginning of December, Defense Ministry Director General Amir Baram said that Israel has evolved from a “cyber nation” to a “defense-tech nation.”
Baram said that in 2024 alone, 21 governments-to-government agreements were worth billions of shekels, with major defense companies signing significant contracts in Europe, Asia, and North America. The IMOD invested NIS 1.2 billion in start-ups alone, and small and-medium-size companies have signed contracts worth hundreds of millions each.
“For years, Israel was known worldwide as a cyber nation. Today, we have evolved into a true defense-tech nation,” he said. “Tel Aviv now ranks as the world’s third leading defense-tech hub.”
The country’s ecosystem now spans elite military technology units, academia, established defense industries, and a growing number of start-ups focused on deep tech, AI, autonomy, and advanced manufacturing.
MAFAT plays a unique role as the bridge between the IDF, the IMOD, academia, and industry. It manages both short- and long-term R&D projects, steers international collaborations, and ensures that Israel maintains its qualitative military edge.
Recent initiatives include the creation of a dedicated AI and Autonomy Administration to accelerate breakthroughs in intelligent platforms.
In January, the IDF and the IMOD opened the AI and Autonomy Directorate, aimed at spearheading research, development, and force-building in AI and autonomous systems across the IDF. The directorate operates under MAFAT, in collaboration with academic researchers, technological units within the IDF, defense industries, and start-ups.
Lessons of Oct. 7
The AI and Autonomy Directorate was the first additional directorate to be opened in the IMOD in more than two decades.
Just as Hamas made extensive use of its offensive tunnel network during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, the Israeli military has proposed building an underground barrier as a fence to remove the threat of cross-border attack tunnels and stop terrorists from Gaza intent on carrying out attacks from infiltrating into southern Israel.
Construction began on Israel’s upgraded barrier against infiltration from Gaza in 2017. Work lasted three and a half years and cost approximately NIS 3.5 billion ($1 billion). The barrier extends for 65 kilometers – from Kerem Shalom in the South to Zikim in the North.
The fence-underground barrier stretches parallel to the entire border with Gaza, along with a maritime border wall. It has a system of advanced sensors and monitoring devices to detect tunnels, and is combined with a fence that is six meters (about 20 feet) above ground.
IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi called the barrier an “iron wall” and a central part of Israel’s defenses.
“It represents thinking outside the box, and expresses the kind of thinking we are committed to in the IDF,” he said at the time. “A change in reality that what was before, it will no longer be.”
“There is no place in the world that has built an underground barrier,” said Fence Administration Director Brig. Gen. Eran Ofir when the barrier was completed in 2021.
“It was a very complex project, both operationally and engineering-wise. The work was not easy. We went through 15 rounds of fighting, we were shot at, and we didn’t stop work for a moment. Today, I can inform the residents of the Gaza Strip area that there is a barrier, both underground and on the surface, with advanced technology that will prevent infiltrations into Israel in the best way possible.”
Nevertheless, all that technology didn’t stop thousands of Hamas and Palestinian Jihad terrorists and armed Gazan citizens from attacking Israel, butchering thousands, and taking hostages just two years after the barrier was completed.
The fence was breached in dozens of locations using explosive charges and bulldozers, and all the advanced technology was neutralized. Kohavi’s “iron wall” failed.
Israel’s defense-tech ecosystem has been further galvanized by the lessons of the recent conflicts along the country’s borders, as well as the war in Ukraine.
The Hamas attack on Oct. 7 and the devastating war that followed exposed vulnerabilities in Israel’s defense infrastructure, prompting a surge of investment in start-ups and technologies that can deliver rapid, adaptive solutions. Since Oct. 7, more than 300 defense-tech companies have been working with MAFAT, and over 130 took active part in operations during the war.
Start-ups and global shifts
Over the past three years, MAFAT has redefined its relationship with start-ups. “There are new players that challenge us, in a good way,” Harari noted, pointing out Israel’s dynamic innovation ecosystem. “The defense ecosystem is dramatic. In Israel, the start-up scene is crazy; there are very smart people coming up with new solutions.”
Globally, defense spending is rising as nations increase GDP allocations to security and defense. Private investors, venture capital funds, and legacy corporations are entering the sector, reshaping traditional models.
Harari acknowledged that recent conflicts have accelerated the pace of change. “We are taking more risks after the war. We need great innovation,” he said. He also cautioned that defense systems cannot compromise on dependability: “We embrace the change of working fast, but defense requires extreme reliability.”
During the Defense Tech summit, Col. Yishai Kohn, head of the Planning, Economics & IT Department at the IMOD, said that defense-tech companies working with MAFAT had raised over $1 billion in exits and funding in the past year.
Therefore, he said, the IMOD will allocate a double-digit percentage of its R&D budget to activities with start-ups and small to-medium companies.
“Evidence of a thriving and evolving ecosystem is found in private investment in the sector. For the first time this year, private investment in defense start-ups has surpassed government investment.
“This is a testament to investor confidence in an emerging market – not only from a security perspective but also economically – and it is key to strengthening both Israel’s security and economy. The two are inextricably linked,” he said, adding, “It is a significant challenge to reach first place, but an even greater challenge to remain there. The defense-tech ecosystem that took shape during this war is a global leader in innovation and technology, and we have an obligation to continue developing it and preserving that leadership.”
Scaling innovation for battlefield superiority
At the International Defense Tech Summit in Tel Aviv, Harari outlined a sweeping vision for Israel’s defense future.
Harari emphasized that Israel is living through “days of a perfect storm,” in which advances in high-power lasers, photonics, sensing, and electric systems are converging to reshape the battlefield. Energy weapons, autonomous platforms, and hypersonics are no longer distant concepts but imminent realities.
Drone swarms that have saturated the battlefield in the Russia-Ukraine war have emerged as game changing. And with Israel’s enemies adopting the tactic as well, there needs to be a paradigm shift in defense. Instead of expensive kinetic defense systems, more focus should be placed on energy weapons such as high-powered laser interceptors coupled with high-powered microwaves.
“That is next-generation detection,” he said.
From stockpiles to on-demand manufacturing
Traditional defense readiness has relied on vast armament stockpiles, but Harari warned that these inventories decay and quickly become obsolete. Instead, he called for a paradigm shift toward on-demand manufacturing at scale. This approach would allow Israel to adapt rapidly to evolving threats while reducing waste and inefficiency.
Harari stressed that scale is imperative. “What’s better, 10 excellent systems or 100 good ones?” he asked, adding, “Quantity has a quality of its own.”
To achieve this, breakthroughs in manufacturing are essential – faster, more versatile processes, new materials, and cost as an operational feature. Harari posed a provocative question: “Can you 3D print a tank?”
“The technology has advanced, there is capital, and with innovation, all are aligned. The time is ripe for big, bold moves,” he said. “We need another paradigm shift where instead of stockpiling, move to on-demand manufacturing at scale.”
He also addressed the strategic importance of semiconductors.
“We view the global chip war as another front in the complex military systems Israel manages,” he said. To secure technological autonomy, Israel has launched the Blue-and-White program aimed at strengthening and enhancing Israel’s component manufacturing industry.
As part of this initiative, the Defense Ministry has issued a major procurement order worth hundreds of millions of shekels for advanced thermal infrared sensors. These sensors will power next-generation intelligence, strike, and target acquisition capabilities.
“It is these technologies that will secure Israel’s strategic advantage and determine victory in the next conflict in space, in the air, on land, underground, and in the digital domain,” he said.
Evolution leading to revolution
According to Harari, there has been a “perfect convergence of technological innovation” in the fields of deep tech, defense tech, AI, quantum, and semiconductors. Together, they are fueling a “new generation” of autonomous defense platforms that are “a decisive engine of our military strength.”
Nevertheless, he told D&T that breakthroughs depend on incremental progress.
“The revolution starts with the evolution of the basic building blocks. It’s the system-level evolution that allows for a revolution,” he said.
Among the most significant changes are new technological domains, such as robotics. “Robotics is a new domain. Humans won’t be replaced by robots, but they will be alongside each other on the battlefield,” Harari explained.
Space, too, has become a critical frontier. “There is a revolution happening in space that’s erupted around the world. Israel is leading in some satellite areas. We will adapt our tech thanks to international partners.”
Deep tech, he said, offers opportunities ranging from electric propulsion drones to high-powered energy weapons such as microwaves and lasers. “I couldn’t have imagined the opening of the space domain 20 years ago,” he reflected.
MAFAT’s strategic role
MAFAT’s mission is clear: to preserve Israel’s technological superiority and ensure its independence in critical defense domains. By aligning capital, innovation, and advanced technology, MAFAT is driving a tenfold increase in deep-tech investment to $150 million and positioning Israel at the forefront of defense innovation.
Through initiatives such as the AI and Autonomy Administration, the Blue-and-White program, and partnerships with academia and start-ups, MAFAT is both responding to immediate threats and shaping the long-term trajectory of Israel’s defense ecosystem.
Israel’s defense-tech ecosystem is entering a new era – one defined by scale, autonomy, and manufacturing revolutions. With MAFAT at the helm, the country is leveraging its innovation culture to ensure battlefield superiority and national independence in an increasingly complex global security environment.
Yet, despite Israel’s technological edge, Harari underscored the urgency of maintaining superiority. “We are capable of defending ourselves and attacking the enemy. But there is still a lot to do. In this game, it’s all about being first. We need to be ahead of the enemy. The rules of the game won’t change; we need to be first.”
For Harari, adaptability is the ultimate measure of readiness. “We have to identify the trend and generate the wave. Luck is opportunity that meets readiness. The question is how quickly you can adapt.”