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Israel’s New AI Initiative Is Set to Enhance its Military Edge
A symbol of artificial intelligence. Photo: public domain.
JNS.org – The Israeli Defense Ministry announced on Jan. 1 the creation of a new AI and Autonomy Administration, tasked with leading the research, development and acquisition of artificial intelligence and autonomous capabilities for all branches of the Israel Defense Forces. The new administration is set to transform “battlefield capabilities and [maintain] the IDF’s operational edge,” according to the Defense Ministry’s statement.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, the ministry’s director general, emphasized during an inauguration ceremony held on Dec. 31 that this is the first new administration established within the ministry in over two decades. Highlighting its importance, Zamir said it will not only enhance operational superiority, but also optimize resources and integrate soldiers with autonomous systems, shaping future battlefields where human-machine collaboration will dominate.
Brig. Gen. (res.) Daniel Gold, head of the Directorate of Defense Research and Development under which the new AI Administration will operate, explained that the initiative will unite stakeholders from academia, the Israel Defense Forces, startups and the defense industry under a single framework.
“We will work synergistically with other development administrations while fostering partnerships across Israel’s civilian tech sector,” he said.
Leaders in the field
In his remarks, Gold also addressed the role of the new administration in maintaining Israel’s commitment to global leadership in military AI.
Retired US Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at Washington D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), described the initiative as a sound decision that will further streamline integration of AI and autonomous systems into the military.
“The Israeli Ministry of Defense already has a higher level of integration of AI efforts than any other country, and this will serve to increase that advantage,” Montgomery told JNS on Saturday.
“There are a great deal of capabilities that already give Israel a qualitative military and technological advantage over its adversaries—a healthy entrepreneurial environment focused on security issues, its strong security relationship with the United States, a commitment to holding adversaries accountable. This effort to better integrate MOD adoption of AI and autonomous systems will be one more arrow in that quiver,” he said.
“The United States has been struggling with this same integration challenge over the past five years with limited success. The larger the enterprise you are trying to integrate, the harder the task,” he added.
Blaise Misztal, Vice President for Policy at the Jewish Institute for Washington D.C.-based National Security of America (JINSA), told JNS: “Artificial intelligence is not simply a piece of equipment that can be bolted onto a tank or a weapon [and] handed out to some units. AI’s promise of a complete transformation of how the IDF fights—from analyzing intelligence to making battlefield decisions to using autonomous systems—will also require a transformation of the IDF. The creation of this new AI-focused administration is a recognition of AI’s vast potential, the significant changes that will be needed, and the high-level authority required to drive those changes. It also speaks to the MOD’s understanding that one of Israel’s most significant assets is the innovation of its private sector and the desire to harness it in driving forward defense technology.”
According to Misztal, technological superiority is a critical strategic asset for Israel.
“Since ‘Operation Guardian of the Walls’ in 2021, but especially in the current campaigns against Hamas and Hezbollah, the IDF has used artificial intelligence to accelerate and improve its ability to find, identify and strike targets. As the security landscape changes and Israel now finds itself confronting enemies further away—the Houthis—or more technologically advanced—Iran—it will need to invest in maintaining its military edge. AI is that edge,” he said.
He added that AI’s value is not limited to transforming the IDF’s fighting ability, but is also a means of boosting Israel’s strategic value as a partner to the United States and other countries.
“By leading the way on AI—which will be just as important in the competition between the United States and China as on Middle Eastern battlefields—Israel can cement its status as America’s most important partner for confronting 21st century challenges,” said Misztal.
Operational and strategic implications
Zamir described the Defense Ministry’s initiative as an investment in Israel’s ability to counter developing threats while maintaining its operational tempo and reducing casualties. The administration’s comprehensive approach, covering ground, air, naval, intelligence and space domains, ensures that all branches of the IDF will benefit from the integration of AI and autonomous technologies.
By centralizing expertise and fostering collaboration across sectors, the AI and Autonomy Administration underscores the IDF’s focus on maintaining qualitative military superiority, which has been central to Israel’s defense strategy. It marks a historic step in Israel’s defense evolution, combining technological innovation with strategic foresight.
Israel’s initiative reflects a growing global recognition of AI as a decisive factor in future conflicts. The nation’s leadership in AI ensures that it remains not only a regional power, but also a key player on the global stage, shaping the future of military innovation.
The post Israel’s New AI Initiative Is Set to Enhance its Military Edge first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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IDF Denies Troops Fired on Civilians After Incidents of Settler Violence
Illustrative. Israeli troops during counterterrorism activity in Tulkarem, northwestern Samaria, September 2024. Photo: IDF.
i24 News – The IDF released a statement after an incident during which Israeli soldiers opened fire on Israeli civilians in the West Bank on Saturday night, denying that the trooped fired live ammunition.
This comes at the heels of arson incidents by settlers against Palestinian villages, with clashes breaking out. The IDF said that its soldiers had come under attack on Friday as they entered the area of Kafr Malik, the site of the disturbances, by Israeli civilians. “The undermining of the rule of law and the use of violence by a radical minority harm security and stability in the area.”
The IDF later said that “an initial investigation indicates that IDF forces did not fire live ammunition at Israeli civilians in the area. It should be clarified that the battalion commander’s force operating in the Baal Hatzor area of the Binyamin brigade did not fire live ammunition at all.” On the other hand, the civilians claimed this was false, posting a video that showed shell casings on the ground right next to where the troops were deployed.
Meanwhile, the police requested the remand of six individuals, two of whom are minors, to be extended in connection with the incident.
The IDF later said that, “in another area within the sector, stones were thrown at a military vehicle near the site of the clash by masked individuals from an ambush. The force responded with a warning shot of three bullets.” A possible connection “between this incident and the claim that an Israeli civilian was injured by live fire” is being investigated.
After the incidents late last week, the IDF issued an unusual directive for soldiers to exercise special vigilance and also prepare for scenarios involving nationalist incidents perpetrated by Israeli citizens. The directive was issued after a military vehicle was set on fire inside a Jewish settlement, the tires of an armored David vehicle were punctured, and a community policing caravan near the community of Beit El was also set on fire.
“The security establishment system is highly alert,” a security official told i24NEWS. “We are seeing an escalation on the ground – and if you cannot leave a military vehicle in a Jewish community without it being burned in the sector, it is a sign that the situation is dangerous.”
The post IDF Denies Troops Fired on Civilians After Incidents of Settler Violence first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Orders Evacuations in Northern Gaza as Trump Calls for War to End
US President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing-in ceremony of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
The Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas in northern Gaza on Sunday before intensified fighting against Hamas, as US President Donald Trump called for an end to the war amid renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire.
“Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform early on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to hold talks later in the day on the progress of Israel’s offensive. A senior security official said the military will tell him the campaign is close to reaching its objectives, and warn that expanding fighting to new areas in Gaza may endanger the remaining Israeli hostages.
But in a statement posted on X and text messages sent to many residents, the military urged people in northern parts of the enclave to head south towards the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, which Israel designated as a humanitarian area. Palestinian and U.N. officials say nowhere in Gaza is safe.
“The (Israeli) Defense Forces is operating with extreme force in these areas, and these military operations will escalate, intensify, and extend westward to the city center to destroy the capabilities of terrorist organizations,” the military said.
The evacuation order covered the Jabalia area and most Gaza City districts. Medics and residents said the Israeli army’s bombardments escalated in the early hours in Jabalia, destroying several houses and killing at least six people.
At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, relatives arrived to pay their respects to white-shrouded bodies before they are buried.
“A month ago, they (Israel) told us to go to Al-Mawasi (in Khan Younis) and we stayed there for a month, it is a safe zone,” said Zeyad Abu Marouf. He said three of his children were killed and a fourth was wounded in the Israeli airstrike.
“We ask God and the Arabs to move and end this occupation and the injustice taking place against us,” Abu Marouf told Reuters.
NEW CEASEFIRE PUSH
The military escalation comes as Arab mediators, Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, begin a new ceasefire effort to halt the 20-month-old conflict and secure the release of Israeli and foreign hostages still being held by Hamas.
Interest in resolving the Gaza conflict has heightened following US and Israeli bombings of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
There has also been rising concern over how aid is being distributed to Gazans in the ruined enclave. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed over the past month in the vicinity of areas where food was being handed out, local hospitals and officials have said.
A Hamas official told Reuters the group had informed the mediators it was ready to resume ceasefire talks, but reaffirmed the group’s outstanding demands that any deal must end the war and secure an Israeli withdrawal from the coastal territory.
Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive, only in a deal that will end the war. Israel says it can only end the war if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.
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Russia Launches Largest Drone Attack Yet Against Ukraine, Kills F-16 Pilot
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 10, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
i24 News – Ukraine’s Air Force said that Russia launched 537 drones and missiles against targets throughout Ukraine overnight between Saturday and Sunday, in what what described as the largest attack of the war.
Poland activated aerial defenses and scrambled jets as the six-hour onslaught continued. One Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed as Kyiv attempted to intercept the missiles and drones, with 475 shot down.
“Tragically, while repelling the attack, our F-16 pilot, Maksym Ustymenko, died. Today, he destroyed seven aerial targets,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“Ustymenko did everything possible, but his jet was damaged and started losing altitude,” the air force said, as quoted in Politico. “He died like a hero!”
The cities of Cherkasy, Lviv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv were targeted.
The Russia attack came after Ukraine attacked the Kirovske airfield in the Crimean Peninsula, targeting air defenses, drones, and even destroying several helicopters and an air defense system.
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