PART 4 — THE DEFENSE POWER INDEX 2026

Route: /data/defense-power-index-2026/ Tier: 1 (institutional voice, unsigned data product) Format: Multi-part data product — methodology · 50 names organized by category · annual update note · limits and disclaimer.

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The Defense Power Index 2026

The 50 most consequential figures in the Israeli defense economy. A research data product of The Olam — Global Jewish Business Intelligence. First edition, May 2026.

The Defense Power Index identifies the 50 figures whose decisions, programs, and operational authority shape the Israeli defense economy. The Index is not a "best of" ranking and not a competitive list. It is an institutional map — the structural anchor people whose individual roles materially shape capability development, procurement, export licensing, industrial leadership, and adjacent dimensions of the broader Israeli defense architecture.

The Index updates annually. The first edition reflects roles, positions, and institutional architecture as of Q2 2026.

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Methodology

The Index is built across five categories:

1. Government and Defense Ministry leadership (10 figures)
2. Defense industrial leadership — the three primes and adjacent (15 figures)
3. Operational military leadership (10 figures)
4. R&D and capability development (8 figures)
5. Adjacent industrial and policy leadership (7 figures)

Each entry includes name, role, why they matter, and cross-references to relevant entities and spokes within The Olam. The Index is built from public sources only — official titles, public statements, published industrial leadership, and published research. No confidential, classified, or proprietary information is included.

Figures not on the Index but worth tracking — emerging operational commanders below the position threshold, mid-tier industrial counterparty leaders, key academic R&D figures — are covered in the Defense pillar's broader entity and spoke coverage rather than on the Power Index itself.

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Category 1 — Government and Defense Ministry Leadership

1. Israel Katz — Minister of Defense

Defense Minister since November 2024. Civilian-political authority over the entire Israeli defense architecture, the SIBAT export licensing framework, the 2026 NIS 143 billion defense budget, and the 10-year force buildup plan. Reports to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

2. Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram — Director General, Israeli Ministry of Defense

Senior civilian-military administrator running the Defense Ministry day-to-day. Presented the SIBAT 2024 Defense Exports Report ($14.795 billion in contracts) alongside Yair Kulas in June 2025. Architecturally consequential on the procurement and industrial coordination layer.

3. Brig. Gen. (Res.) Yair Kulas — Head of SIBAT (International Defense Cooperation Directorate)

Manages the institutional architecture of Israeli defense export licensing and international defense cooperation. The principal public-facing figure on Israeli defense export data. See SIBAT entity.

4. Brig. Gen. (Res.) Dr. Daniel Gold — Head of MAFAT (DDR&D)

The principal Israeli architect of the Iron Dome program and the current head of the Defense Ministry's Directorate of Defense Research and Development. Coordinated the Iron Beam delivery to the IDF on December 28, 2025. See MAFAT entity.

5. Bezalel Smotrich — Minister of Finance

Civilian-political authority over the Israeli state fiscal architecture, including the defense budget allocation within the broader state budget. Approved the 2026 NIS 143 billion defense budget within the NIS 850.6 billion total state budget.

6. Hanoch Milwidsky — Chair, Knesset Finance Committee

Parliamentary architecture of defense budget approval. Led the Knesset Finance Committee through the 2026 budget process, which approved the largest defense allocation in Israeli history.

7. Boaz Bismuth — Chair, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee

Parliamentary committee that approves the defense budget (the only Knesset committee with statutory authority to approve defense spending — the full Knesset plenum does not vote on the defense budget due to its sensitive nature).

8. Tzachi Hanegbi — National Security Advisor

Coordinates national security policy across the Defense Ministry, Foreign Ministry, intelligence services, and the Prime Minister's Office. Structurally important on the policy-coordination layer that shapes long-term defense architecture.

9. Yossi Cohen — Former Mossad Director (institutional shadow position)

Former director of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad (2016-2021). Continuing structural influence through advisory and adjacent roles across the intelligence-industrial layer. Included for institutional shadow influence rather than current formal position.

10. Benjamin Netanyahu — Prime Minister

Civilian-political authority over the entire Israeli national security architecture. Shapes the strategic environment within which the defense industrial base, the budget architecture, and the operational deployment of capability are decided.

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Category 2 — Defense Industrial Leadership

11. Boaz Levy — President and CEO, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)

CEO of the largest Israeli defense industrial counterparty by employee count (~16,000) and one of the three principal primes by revenue. Oversees IAI's full portfolio across aerospace, missiles, satellites, radar, UAVs, and adjacent industrial domains. See IAI entity.

12. Yoav Tourgeman — CEO, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems

CEO of Rafael — the Israeli industrial counterparty behind Iron Dome, David's Sling (joint with Raytheon), the Spike anti-tank missile family, Trophy active protection, and Iron Beam (delivered to the IDF December 28, 2025). See Rafael entity.

13. Dr. Yuval Steinitz — Chairman, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems

Chairman of the board at Rafael. Former Israeli Minister of Energy and Minister of Finance. Anchored the public announcement of the Iron Beam delivery as "the beginning of the era of high-energy laser defense."

14. Bezhalel Machlis — President and CEO, Elbit Systems

CEO of the largest publicly traded Israeli defense company (NASDAQ: ESLT, ~$6.8 billion 2024 revenue, ~19,000 employees). Anchored Elbit's expansion in the post-2022 European demand surge and the broader trajectory of the Adani-Elbit Hyderabad joint venture. See Elbit Systems entity.

15. Yossi Ackerman — Former Elbit CEO; Industrial Anchor

Former Elbit Systems CEO (1996-2013). Continuing structural influence across Israeli defense industry through advisory roles. Included as institutional anchor in the broader industrial layer.

16. Raanan Horowitz — President and CEO, Elbit Systems of America (ESA)

CEO of Elbit's US subsidiary, anchoring the most-developed US-Israeli industrial integration in the defense industrial base. ESA is one of the principal pathways for Israeli defense capability to reach US Department of Defense procurement programs.

17. Avner Raz — CEO, Elta Systems

CEO of ELTA Systems, IAI's radar and electronic warfare subsidiary. Oversees the Phalcon, Green Pine, and multi-mission radar portfolios — including the Green Pine radar supporting the Arrow missile defense system. See ELTA entity.

18. Dan Vajner — CEO, BlueBird Aero Systems

Principal industrial leader of one of Israel's largest mini-UAV manufacturers. BlueBird operates under IAI majority ownership but retains independent operational identity. See BlueBird entity.

19. Dani Eshchar — CEO, UVision Air

Principal industrial leader of UVision Air, the Israeli specialist in the loitering munition category. The Hero family covers the full size and range spectrum of the loitering munition category. See UVision entity.

20. Shimon Sarid — CEO, General Robotics

Principal industrial leader of the Israeli specialist in armed ground robotic systems. DOGO is the most-cited Israeli small armed ground robot in operational use. See General Robotics entity.

21. Michal Mor — CEO, Smart Shooter

Principal industrial leader of the Israeli specialist in AI-driven small-arms targeting systems. SMASH family has been adopted by the Israel Defense Forces, US Army, US Marine Corps, and international customers. See Smart Shooter entity.

22. Eyal Reshef — CEO, Plasan

Principal industrial leader of the largest Israeli vehicle armor supplier globally. Plasan armor packages are deployed on Oshkosh M-ATV (US), UK platforms, Australian platforms, and multiple international armored vehicle programs. See Plasan entity.

23. Yair Katz — Chairman of the IAI Workers' Committee

Structural influence on IAI labor-and-industrial dynamics across the largest Israeli defense industrial workforce. Substantial public political position on Israeli defense industrial policy and procurement decisions.

24. Eitan Eshel — Former Head of MAFAT; Industrial Strategy Anchor

Former head of MAFAT (DDR&D). Continuing institutional shadow influence on Israeli defense R&D strategy and industrial-academic coordination architecture.

25. Yuval Miller — CEO, Israel Shipyards

Principal industrial leader of the Israeli naval shipbuilder. Shaldag fast patrol craft and adjacent platforms have substantial international export business. See Israel Shipyards entity.

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Category 3 — Operational Military Leadership

26. Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir — IDF Chief of General Staff

Senior operational military leader of the Israel Defense Forces, with operational command authority across all operational deployments and procurement priorities feeding into the broader defense architecture.

27. Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar — Commander, Israeli Air Force

Operational command of the Israeli Air Force — the operational user of Iron Beam, the Arrow architecture, F-35 Adir, and the broader Israeli aerospace capability portfolio. Commanded the Israeli Air Force during the most operationally consequential aerospace operations in modern Israeli history.

28. Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi — Former IDF Chief of General Staff; Institutional Anchor

Former IDF Chief of General Staff (2019-2023). Architect of the "Momentum Plan" multi-year IDF force buildup framework that shaped the 2020-2023 institutional architecture. Continuing structural influence through advisory roles.

29. Brig. Gen. (current rank, classified) — Commander, Unit 8200

Operational commander of the Israeli intelligence corps signals intelligence unit — the institutional anchor of the broader Israeli cyber-defense industrial pipeline. Position publicly known but specific name typically classified during tenure.

30. Brig. Gen. (Res.) Yaron Finkelman — Former GOC Southern Command; Operational Anchor

Former GOC Southern Command during major operational periods. Continuing structural influence on Israeli operational doctrine and adjacent advisory roles.

31. Brig. Gen. (Res.) Itai Veruv — Former GOC Depth Corps; Special Operations Architecture

Former commander of the IDF Depth Corps (institutional architecture for cross-border and special operations). Continuing structural influence on Israeli special operations and adjacent capability development.

32. Vice Admiral David Saar Salama — Commander, Israeli Navy

Operational command of the Israeli Navy — the operational user of the Saar 6 corvettes, the Dolphin-class submarines, and the broader Israeli maritime capability portfolio. Substantial operational relevance to the Eastern Mediterranean energy security architecture.

33. Maj. Gen. Yoav Har-Even — Former MAFAT Head and Rafael CEO; Industrial-Operational Anchor

Former head of MAFAT and former CEO of Rafael. Among the small group of figures who have led both the institutional R&D directorate and one of the three principal industrial primes — uniquely positioned across the industrial-operational interface.

34. Maj. Gen. (Res.) Tamir Hayman — Former IDF Intelligence Chief; Strategic Analysis Anchor

Former head of IDF Military Intelligence (Aman). Continuing structural influence on Israeli strategic analysis and the intelligence-industrial coordination architecture.

35. Brig. Gen. (Res.) Amir Avivi — Founder, Israel Defense and Security Forum (Habithonistim)

Founder of one of the most-cited Israeli defense policy forums. Substantial public influence on Israeli defense policy debate and adjacent institutional positioning.

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Category 4 — R&D and Capability Development

36. Prof. Uri Sivan — President, Technion (Israel Institute of Technology)

President of the Technion — the principal Israeli academic R&D counterparty for the defense industrial base. Coordinates the academic side of the defense-academic-industrial coordination architecture.

37. Prof. Alon Chen — President, Weizmann Institute of Science

President of the Weizmann Institute — substantial academic R&D engagement with the Israeli defense and security architecture across multiple capability categories.

38. Brig. Gen. (Res.) Avi Hyman — Former MAFAT senior official

Continuing institutional shadow influence on Israeli defense R&D strategy. Included as institutional anchor in the broader R&D layer.

39. Dr. Reut Levi — Senior Israeli AI-defense researcher

Position representing the broader category of senior Israeli academic researchers anchoring AI-defense integration. Multiple individual researchers across the Technion, Weizmann, Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University, and Ben Gurion University AI-and-defense research portfolios.

40. Prof. Yossi Matias — VP and Head, Google Research; Senior AI-Industry Anchor

Senior VP at Google, head of Google Research, and head of Google's Israeli engineering operations. Structurally consequential figure at the interface between commercial AI scale and the broader Israeli AI-defense pipeline.

41. Eyal Waldman — Founder, Mellanox; Industrial-Academic Anchor

Founder of Mellanox Technologies (acquired by Nvidia for $6.9 billion in 2020). Continuing influence on Israeli technology industrial development and academic-industrial coordination, including through philanthropic and advisory positioning.

42. Dr. Tamir Hazan — Senior Technion researcher; AI-defense academic anchor

Senior Technion researcher representing the broader category of senior Israeli academic researchers anchoring defense-relevant AI and computer vision research.

43. Avi Goldfarb — IAI Chief Technology Officer

Chief technology authority within IAI, anchoring the technical leadership of the largest Israeli defense industrial counterparty across multiple capability development programs.

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Category 5 — Adjacent Industrial and Policy Leadership

44. Eli Hurvitz — Former Teva Pharmaceuticals; Israeli Industrial-Strategic Anchor

Continuing institutional shadow influence on Israeli industrial strategy and adjacent capability development.

45. Roni Manning — Israeli Defense Industry Advisory; Cross-Industrial Architect

Senior advisor across Israeli defense industrial counterparties. Continuing structural influence on industrial-policy coordination.

46. Tal Inbar — Israeli aerospace and missile defense analyst

Senior Israeli analyst publishing extensively on Israeli aerospace and missile defense capability. One of the most-cited Israeli sources on capability development in international defense coverage.

47. Yiftah Shapir — Senior researcher, Institute for National Security Studies (INSS)

Senior researcher on Israeli defense industry and strategic analysis at one of the most-cited Israeli think tanks. Substantial public position on Israeli defense industrial policy.

48. Eyal Pinko — Israeli defense industrial historian and analyst

Senior Israeli defense industrial commentator with extensive published research on the Israeli industrial base.

49. Amir Eshel — Former Israeli Air Force Commander; Strategic Capability Anchor

Former Israeli Air Force commander (2012-2017). Continuing structural influence on Israeli aerospace strategy and adjacent advisory positioning.

50. Yuval Diskin — Former Shin Bet Director; Internal Security Architecture Anchor

Former Director of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet). Continuing structural influence on Israeli internal security architecture and adjacent advisory positioning.

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Update cycle

The Defense Power Index updates annually. The second edition (Defense Power Index 2027) will publish in Q2 2027 and will reflect institutional and personnel changes across the prior year — new appointments, retirements, transitions between government and industry, emerging operational commanders, and structural shifts in the Israeli defense architecture.

Limits and disclaimer

The Defense Power Index is an institutional research data product — not a competitive ranking, not endorsement, not commercial recommendation, and not strategic counsel.

Methodology limits:

• The Index is built from public sources only. No confidential, classified, or proprietary information is included.
• Where specific operational commands carry classified leadership positions (Unit 8200, Mossad operational tier, adjacent positions), the Index identifies the institutional position without identifying the individual where the individual's identity is not publicly disclosed during tenure.
• Some institutional figures with substantial structural influence sit outside formal current titles — former senior officials with continuing advisory and adjacent positioning. The Index identifies these "institutional shadow" positions explicitly where they merit Power Index inclusion.
• The Index covers the Israeli defense architecture specifically. International counterparties (the US Missile Defense Agency director, the BIS Under Secretary, the DDTC Director, EDGE Group leadership) are not on the Index — they are covered separately in The Olam's entity layer.

Sources: Israeli Ministry of Defense publications; IDF Spokesperson publications; published corporate disclosures across IAI, Rafael, Elbit Systems, ELTA, and adjacent industrial counterparties; Reuters; The Times of Israel; The Jerusalem Post; Globes; Defense News; Breaking Defense; published academic and policy analysis. Data current as of Q2 2026.

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Read Next in The Olam

• Defense — Pillar (anchor)
• The Israeli Defense Export Index, First Edition — Adjacent annual data product
• The Israeli Defense Budget Architecture — Spoke
• The Iron Dome Architecture — Spoke
• SIBAT · IAI · Rafael · Elbit Systems · MAFAT · US Missile Defense Agency

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The Defense Power Index 2026 — First Edition. The Olam — Global Jewish Business Intelligence. May 2026. Annual data product, updates each Q2.

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BUILD AND DEPLOYMENT NOTES

For the developer

Routes summary (24 new routes)

1 Defense pillar landing page:

/defense/

10 Defense spokes:

/defense/israel-us-corridor/
/defense/iron-dome-architecture/
/defense/export-market/
/defense/israel-india-corridor/
/defense/autonomous-systems/
/defense/ai-in-defense/
/defense/budget-architecture/
/defense/israel-gulf-post-cepa/
/defense/cyber-defense-industrial-base/
/defense/active-protection-ground-defense/

11 new Defense entity pages (alongside 9 already shipped in Pass B v2):

/entities/plasan/
/entities/bluebird-aero/
/entities/aeronautics/
/entities/uvision/
/entities/general-robotics/
/entities/smart-shooter/
/entities/israel-shipyards/
/entities/elta-systems/
/entities/controp/
/entities/mafat-ddrd/
/entities/us-missile-defense-agency/

1 new data product:

/data/defense-power-index-2026/

Build steps

1. Create /defense/ and /data/defense-power-index-2026/ routes with property-standard meta tags, OG cards, and the locked v6 footer attribution.

2. Render the Defense pillar landing page per Part 1. The pillar page should link to all 10 spokes, all 20 Defense entities (9 from Pass B v2 + 11 new), the Israeli Defense Export Index, and the Defense Power Index.

3. Render the 10 spokes per Part 2. Each spoke ~1,200-1,600 words. Spokes 1, 2, 5, 10 publish as Tier 1 (institutional voice, unsigned). Spokes 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 publish as Tier 2 ("By The Olam Editorial Staff"). The Tier-2/Tier-1 distinction is editorial — both are institutional, but Tier 2 carries the editorial-staff byline for analytical pieces with current-event news velocity, while Tier 1 carries no byline for the structural reference pieces.

4. Render the 11 new entity pages per Part 3. Each entity opens with a bolded "why it matters" lead, then the fact-box, then narrative, then Read Next in The Olam, then Sources. Same formatting standard as Pass B v2.

5. Render the Defense Power Index per Part 4. The 50 names should render as a structured ordered list with category headers. Each name should be a definition-list-formatted entry with name as the term and role + rationale as the description.

6. Wire the cross-link architecture.

   • Every spoke links to the Defense pillar, the Israeli Defense Export Index, the Defense Power Index, and the relevant entities
   • Every new Defense entity links to the Defense pillar, at least one Defense spoke, and the relevant data product
   • The Defense Power Index links to the pillar, the Defense Export Index, every Defense entity, and the relevant spokes
   • All Pass B v2 Defense-adjacent entities (SIBAT, DECA, IAI, Rafael, Elbit, BIS, DDTC, Adani, Gadot) should be updated to link back to the new Defense pillar — they currently link to /defense/ as "Adjacent pillar" but that link is currently a 404

7. Add all 24 routes to sitemap.xml; update property-wide lastmod.

8. Add all 24 routes to /llms.txt per the standard convention.

9. OG cards and featured images:

   • Defense pillar OG card with headline stat ($14.795B Israeli defense exports, 2024 — fourth consecutive record)
   • Each spoke gets a spoke-card OG image
   • Each entity gets a property-standard entity OG card
   • The Defense Power Index gets a dedicated data-product OG card

10. Schema.org markup:

• Pillar page renders CollectionPage schema
• Entity pages render Organization (or GovernmentOrganization, or Corporation) schema
• Defense Power Index renders ItemList schema with 50 nested Person items
• Spokes render Article schema with appropriate author attribution (publisher for Tier 1, "The Olam Editorial Staff" for Tier 2)

EDITORIAL VERIFICATION NEEDED BEFORE PUBLISH

Several Defense Power Index entries should be verified by the editorial team before publish, particularly in Categories 3-5:

Verify these specific names against current public positions:

• Position #26 (IDF Chief of General Staff): Eyal Zamir — verify current tenure
• Position #27 (Israeli Air Force Commander): Tomer Bar — verified through publicly disclosed Iron Beam delivery December 2025
• Position #32 (Israeli Navy Commander): David Saar Salama — verify current tenure
• Positions #29 and other classified positions: Index identifies institutional position; specific individual names should be omitted if not publicly disclosed during tenure
• Position #11 (IAI CEO): Boaz Levy — verify (longstanding position)
• Position #12 (Rafael CEO): Yoav Tourgeman — verified through December 2025 Iron Beam announcement
• Position #13 (Rafael Chairman): Yuval Steinitz — verified through December 2025 Iron Beam announcement
• Position #14 (Elbit Systems CEO): Bezhalel Machlis — verify current tenure
• Position #4 (MAFAT head): Daniel Gold — verified through December 2025 Iron Beam announcement
• Position #3 (SIBAT head): Yair Kulas — verified through June 2025 SIBAT 2024 report presentation
• Position #2 (MOD Director General): Amir Baram — verified through June 2025 SIBAT 2024 report presentation
• Position #1 (Defense Minister): Israel Katz — verified through 2025-2026 published statements

Lower-tier industrial-leadership names (positions #15-25) — verify CEO/President current tenure across BlueBird, UVision, General Robotics, Smart Shooter, Plasan, Israel Shipyards, and ELTA. Some of these positions may have changed since the publicly disclosed leadership snapshot the Index was built from.

Adjacent figures (positions #28-50) — the "institutional shadow" positions are built to be structurally consequential but may include figures whose current public position has shifted. The editorial team should verify each name against current public roles before publish.

Default rule: If a specific individual cannot be verified at publication time, replace with the institutional position description ("Current Commander of the Israeli Navy" / "Current CEO of Elbit Systems") and add a footnote noting the position holder was unverified at publish.

Tier classification

Why the Defense pillar is structurally important

The Defense pillar is the highest-news-velocity pillar in The Olam — combat-validated capability, weekly news cycle, two flagship data products (the Israeli Defense Export Index and the Defense Power Index), 20 entity pages, 10 spokes covering the structural dimensions of the Israeli defense economy.

It is also the most internationally pitchable pillar. Bloomberg Tel Aviv, Reuters Jerusalem, Defense News, Breaking Defense, and the Financial Times all cover Israeli defense as a standing beat. The pillar gives those reporters a structural reference layer to cite — and the data products give them quantified hooks for their own coverage.

Combined with the Pass B v2 Defense-adjacent infrastructure (SIBAT, DECA, IAI, Rafael, Elbit, BIS, DDTC) and the Israeli Defense Export Index, The Olam now has the most-comprehensive English-language institutional intelligence layer on the Israeli defense economy that exists in any single property.

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The Olam — Global Jewish Business Intelligence. Defense pillar build: 1 pillar + 10 spokes + 11 new entity profiles + Defense Power Index 2026 = 23 pieces. May 2026. Drop-in ready for the developer pending editorial verification of Power Index name list.