Israeli Defense Startups Struggle To Reach Battlefield

On Feb. 1, 2026, Col. (res.) Merav Davidovits told The Jerusalem Post Defense & Tech podcast that Israel's defense tech ecosystem risks prioritizing flashy demos over deployable battlefield capabilities. She warned startups must adopt system-level thinking — including end-user engagement, logistics, lifecycle planning, and scalability — and emphasized leadership as the decisive factor to avoid the sector's "valley of death" and succeed internationally.