How Israel’s Defense-Tech Industry Rebooted After October 7

The October 7 war began with the infiltration of thousands of Hamas terrorists across the “Hourglass” barrier between Gaza and Israel—a high-tech defense project completed two years earlier at a cost of approximately 3.5 billion shekels ($1 billion). By 6:29 that morning, what had been lauded as “a technological and creative project of the highest order” by senior security officials—who believed it would offer unprecedented protection to Israeli communities bordering Gaza—had already begun to unravel.

The barrier stretches roughly 65 kilometers, from Kerem Shalom in the south to Zikim Beach in the north. Its subterranean component consists of a deep concrete wall designed to thwart tunnel digging from Gaza, while the above-ground segment features a smart fence more than six meters high, embedded with cutting-edge surveillance and detection systems.

But on the morning of the attack, the barrier’s fragility was laid bare. Within minutes, it was breached in dozens of locations using explosive charges and bulldozers. Rafael’s remote-controlled defense systems, mounted on dedicated masts and intended to deliver precise, lethal fire against infiltrators, were rendered inoperative by simple drones dropping munitions on them. The “iron wall”—a symbol of bold, outside-the-box security thinking—collapsed.

Dr. Gal Harari, 41, CTO at the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defence Research & Development (DDR&D), pushes back on the notion that the rapid failure of the barrier marked the downfall of Israeli defense technologies against what he calls a “primitive” enemy.

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The Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research & Development (DDR&D) CTO Dr. Gal Harari is a Technion alumnus.