Inside the IDF push to deploy smarter, faster robots across the frontlines
From robotic bulldozers to hybrid drone‑rovers, the IDF is rapidly expanding its autonomous ground fleet.
Robotican's Rooster hybrid robotic drone platform
Three years into its longest and most complex war, the IDF is accelerating the deployment of unmanned ground robots across multiple fronts as battlefield threats intensify. As troops encounter more areas saturated with improvised explosive devices and explosive drones, units are requesting faster, more autonomous platforms capable of operating in dense urban terrain, under fire.
Defense & Tech by The Jerusalem Post visited an IDF base in the center of the country that works with civilian defense companies and MAFAT – the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development-to design, test, and deliver platforms at unprecedented speed.
“Every robotic system established during the war starts here,” said Maj. A, who oversees the development hub responsible for turning urgent operational needs into fielded systems. “We understand the look and feel of the system before going to the battlefield.”
Rapid development under fire
Requests from the field shift constantly as units encounter new threats.
“Days are intense, but we need to deploy as fast as we can,” he said. “We need to save lives. Time to market is important so we are constantly thinking, developing, testing and deploying for the troops.”
A TALON tracked military robot picks up a downed unmanned aerial system at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, May 19, 2020. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Derek Mustard) (credit: PICRYL)
When a request arrives, engineers gather to find a solution – manufacturing parts, procuring components or bringing in outside companies. They then run full safety and usability tests to ensure troops can operate the systems under pressure.
“Some work fine in a civilian environment but don’t work on the battlefield,” Maj. A said, explaining that while some defense-tech companies have been able to prove themselves, others have not been able to make the switch from fully civilian to a dual-use or defense platform.
Occasionally, units arrive with their own ideas. “One unit came to us with a problem and a solution. It doesn’t happen a lot,” he said. “They told us, ‘I know it works, now just integrate it.’”
The team also works to reduce the complexity of platforms, making them more intuitive for troops and reservists.
“We have soldiers who are 18 – they know robots,” he said. “They grew up with them, so when they meet these robots for the first time they know how to use them. Many reservists can learn how to use them too. AI and autonomy help them in complicated and complex situations to successfully carry out the mission.”
The IDF’s expanding robotic fleet
The IDF fields a growing array of unmanned platforms, many of which have been adapted repeatedly during the past three years of war-from Gaza, Lebanon and, according to some reports, even far from Israel’s borders.
The D9 Panda, a fully robotic and autonomous bulldozer, has been operational since 2022 and heavily used throughout the past three years of fighting. Defense & Tech understands that it was recently modified to allow operators to control it from tens of kilometers away, instead of the previous 3-5 km.
The Iron Beast- a modified M113 armored personnel carrier- has become one of the most requested platforms.
Before the war that broke out on October 7, thousands of these antiquated Vietnam-era platforms were set to be sold for scrap, but the military understood that the small, slow, and vulnerable platforms could be upgraded and used to perform logistical support missions for frontlines forces.
“We didn’t know what to do with them,” Maj. A said. “Now we took the garbage and made them gold.”
IDF armored forces at a staging area in southern Israel near the border with Gaza. January 01, 2024. (credit: TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90)
Fitted with “new accessories,” these Iron Beasts can be remotely operated by troops, and according to some reports, the IDF even used the platforms as explosive devices to destroy threats in Gaza.
One of the biggest challenges, the commander said, was the surge in demand for the Iron Beast as troops faced widespread IED threats
“Troops were out in the open,” he said. “They needed protection. Instead of sending soldiers, they are sending robotic platforms. They don’t have mothers opening doors to hear that their son was killed.”
The army has several hundred in service and thousands still waiting to be upgraded to autonomous platforms – a process that takes several weeks to complete. Yet scaling production remains a constant struggle. “We face this issue every day,” Maj. A said. “The time to market is critical.”
The Ronnie RT‑20 (MTGR), a small robot used for observation and explosive‑ordnance disposal, has been deployed widely, though several have been destroyed by hostile fire.
A number of offensive robotic platforms produced by Roboteam are also in use by battalions, alongside systems designed to detect and destroy threats – from RF and electro‑optical sensors to improvised solutions involving soccer and fishing nets.
The IDF has also been using the “Rooster” robotic drone during the war in Gaza. Developed by the defense-tech company Robotican, it’s reportedly used by commando units and special forces for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions and tactical combat.
According to the company, Rooster is a robotic hybrid drone with a “combination of ground robot and airborne drone capabilities” that can transition between flying in the air and rolling on the ground. The platform has up to 15 minutes of flying time, 40 minutes of rolling time, and an average working time of up to 90 minutes.
These platforms join other IDF ground robots already known to be in service. Together, they form the backbone of a rapidly expanding robotic ground corps.
“These are the necessities of our reality,” Maj. A said.
The next phase: robotic swarms and autonomous teaming
As the IDF expands its ground robotics fleet, defense officials and industry engineers are increasingly focused on multi‑robot teaming, the ability for several unmanned platforms to operate together, share data and divide tasks.
Golan Malca, VP Sales and Business Development at the Israeli defense-tech company TSG, says that the company is working closely with the IDF, MAFAT as well as the three large Israeli defense companies- IAI, Elbit and Rafael- to provide mature components and systems to support modern battlefield operations.
“The modern battlefield contains a lot of robotic platforms,” Malca said. “We provide the brain to help complete the mission. It detects the threats and provides different priorities to different threats that the robot has to handle.”
TSG provides mature components and systems, with the main product being command and control. According to Malca, who previously worked at MAFAT as the Head of the Dual-Use Division, the company is in talks with several successful companies to provide their command and control system to be integrated into ground robotic platforms.
“The modern battlefield is leading us to use robots for different types of scenarios, and the swarm situation is the next generation that will be relevant for the modern battlefield,” he said. “There is a growing trend of using robotic platforms instead of soldiers to complete the mission and even provide Battlefield Damage Assessment (BDA) reports.
Ground robotic swarms are expected to support missions such as route clearance, tunnel detection, perimeter defense, logistics resupply and close‑range reconnaissance.
The IDF has already tested coordinated operations between small EOD robots, unmanned bulldozers and sensor‑laden platforms, allowing them to map areas, identify threats and relay information to troops before they enter.
The concept mirrors the IDF’s growing use of aerial drone swarms, but adapted for the slower, more complex terrain of urban combat. Engineers say the combination of autonomy, AI‑assisted navigation and human oversight will allow multiple robots to operate in areas too dangerous for soldiers.
Despite increasing autonomy, Maj. A emphasized that the IDF maintains strict human control. “We always have a human operator in the loop, especially when pulling the trigger,” he said.
In addition to the robotic platforms replacing troops on the front lines, the military is also working to improve conditions across the IDF. Last week the second Innotal Innovation Conference took place in Tel Aviv, showcasing new technologies being incorporated into the IDF to improve conditions for troops and enhance decision-making using advanced AI tools
The conference was led by the IDF’s Technology and Logistics Directorate (ATAL), the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development (MAFAT) and the Israel Innovation Institute. Senior officials from MAFAT and the IDF took part, including MAFAT head Brig.-Gen. Dr.Danny Gold, Financial Advisor to the Chief of Staff and head of the Budget Department Brig.-Gen. Nir Weingold and others.
The Innotal program is in the midst of its second cohort of civilian projects, developed in cooperation with the IDF, quickly and able to handle the ongoing operational challenges faced by troops. Hundreds of candidates; 11 projects were chosen to move forward with the program. The projects-which handled issues in the field of medicine, robotics, energy, and others – included one that originated in Taiwan. The emphasis of this cohort was on AI development that would make the scaling of processes within the military more effective in addressing challenges in the field.
Gun rights expanded to additional Israeli communities
Residents of Yavne, Rosh Haayin, Even Yehuda, and several communities in the Hevel Modi'in region can now apply to carry personal firearms.
As part of the expansion of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's firearms reform, residents of three additional cities and 14 localities are eligible to apply for personal firearm licenses.
The decision follows staff work and a professional examination by the Israel Police and professionals from the Firearms Licensing Department. The National Security Ministry noted that eligibility is subject to the criteria and conditions outlined in the law.
The cities that were added to the list are Yavne, Rosh Haayin, and Even Yehuda. In addition, the following communities in the Hevel Modi'in Regional Council have been approved: Kfar Truman, Beit Arif, Hadid, Be'erot Yitzhak, Nofach, Mazor, Bnei Atarot, Rinatiya, Nehalim, Ben Shemen, Ginaton, Kfar Daniel, and Kerem Ben Shemen.
According to the ministry, the newly added communities join dozens of other localities across the country that have already been designated as eligible areas under the reform, which has been expanded since the outbreak of the war.
The Ministry of National Security said that since the reform was expanded, more than 250,000 citizens have received licenses to carry personal firearms, a figure the ministry described as unprecedented.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir welcomed the decision, saying: “I am proud to continue this revolution and add more cities, communities, and regional councils across the country to the list of eligible areas. Residents have a basic right to defend themselves and their families. My policy is clear: firearms in the right hands save lives."
Hiking in the Holy Land: Einot Petzael: The hidden oasis most Israelis don’t know about
Deep in the Jordan Valley lies Einot Petzael, a hidden reserve of clear springs, wildlife, and ancient history from Herod’s Phasaelis to biblical Ataroth, still unknown to most Israelis.
I didn’t expect this.
We drove deep into the Jordan Valley, past anywhere we’d ever been, and just when I started to wonder if we’d made a wrong turn, an orderly Parks Authority sign appeared at the side of the road. We passed through a gate, and the world changed.
Meadows stretched out in every direction. Gazelle, actual herds of them, grazed and galloped across the grasslands. Birds swooped low over the road. The whole scene felt less like Israel and more like the African savannah, and for the 10 minutes it took to drive in, I almost forgot we’d come here for the water.
Then we reached the rocks.
A few cars were pulled over. We stepped out, walked to the edge, and peeked down, and there it was. A crystal-clear pool, rimmed by greenery and limestone, with a small waterfall trickling in at one end. Butterflies and dragonflies hovered over the water. The whole canyon was silent except for the trickle of the spring.
This is Einot Petzael, the Petzael Springs Nature Reserve, and most Israelis have never heard of it.
LIKE MOST beautiful places in this country, Einot Petzael sits on top of a much older story. (credit: SUSANNAH SCHILD)
The main pool sits in a natural stone amphitheater, fed by springs that emerge straight from the rock. It isn’t deep, neck-high at the most, but the water is cold and clear and impossibly refreshing in the dry heat of the Jordan Valley. We waded in, made our way to the waterfall, and let the spray hit our faces. Wild mint grew thick along the banks, releasing its sharp, clean scent every time we brushed against it.
From there, you can keep exploring. Hidden pools lie tucked behind boulders and greenery – they take a bit of climbing to reach, but they reward the effort with complete solitude. And further upstream, you reach the actual source: Einot Petzael itself, a series of shallow wading pools shaded by trees, the sound of cool rushing water filling the air. These upper pools are ideal for families with small children, with easy access, gentle water, and plenty of shade.
It’s the kind of place you keep expecting to be crowded and isn’t.
A nature reserve quietly coming to life
Petzael Springs Nature Reserve was formally declared in 1993, but for years it remained largely undeveloped, beautiful but neglected, the kind of site only known to locals and serious hikers. That has changed in recent years.
The Parks Authority has been steadily developing the reserve. Signage has gone up. Fire pits, benches, and picnic areas have appeared. An information station near the entrance has been established. Visiting now feels like visiting any other well-cared-for Israeli park, except for the part where you’re often the only ones there.
This investment is part of a broader expansion of nature reserves in Judea and Samaria announced by then-defense minister Naftali Bennett in 2020. Einot Petzael is one of the clearest beneficiaries – a place that was always beautiful, finally getting the attention it deserved.
A place with layers
Like most beautiful places in this country, Einot Petzael sits atop a much older story.
The Jewish history here runs deep. The lower part of the stream valley has been identified by some scholars with biblical Ataroth, the town mentioned in the Book of Joshua as marking the northern border of the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim. The Iron Age tel where the stream meets the valley floor likely preserves that ancient settlement.
A thousand years later came Herod. The name Petzael comes from Phasael, Herod the Great’s elder brother, who took his own life in 40 BCE rather than be handed over to his enemies during the Parthian invasion. Herod, devastated by his brother’s death, founded a town here in his memory and called it Phasaelis. The name has survived for more than two thousand years, carried by the springs, the stream, and the nearby modern Moshav Petzael.
Herod didn’t just build a town. He built an aqueduct that carried water from these springs about six kilometers down to Phasaelis, watering the famous palm groves that produced dates praised across the Roman world.
The remains of his enormous storage reservoir, which the Parks Authority describes as “super Olympic-sized," can still be seen near the moshav. An old Ottoman-era flour mill that operated on the same aqueduct water is still standing along the stream, a reminder that every group that has lived in this valley, from ancient Israelites to Byzantine Christians, drew their life from the water that still flows from these springs today.
Walking back to the car at the end of our visit, past the meadows full of gazelle and the cliffs full of hyrax, I kept thinking about that continuity. More than two thousand years of people drinking from this same water. And here we were, on an ordinary spring afternoon, the only ones around.
If you go
Location: Petzael Springs Nature Reserve, off Route 90 in the Jordan Valley, near Moshav Petzael. Roughly one hour from Jerusalem.
Best season: Late winter through spring (February-May). The water flows strongest, the hillsides bloom, and temperatures are comfortable. Avoid July-August unless you’re heading straight into the water – the Jordan Valley becomes punishingly hot.
What to bring: Bathing suit, water shoes (the rocks can be slippery), plenty of drinking water, a picnic, and sun protection. There’s no food or water available at the site.
For families: The upper wading pools at the spring source are ideal for small children. The main pool requires more confident swimmers.
Safety note: As with all West Bank travel, check current conditions before heading out, and travel in a group when possible. Tours: The Parks Authority occasionally runs guided tours on weekends in spring – check parks.org.il
The writer is the founder of Hiking the Holyland. This is the first in a series of columns exploring Israel’s lesser-known nature reserves and national parks. Read more of her writing at hikingintheholyland.com and on Substack at Sacred Trails.
Silenced no more: The Israeli women who documented Hamas's October 7 sexual crimes
New 298-page Civil Commission report details Oct. 7 sexual violence, based on thousands of photos, videos, and interviews, finding social media was used as a tool of psychological warfare.
When the privately funded Civil Commission on the Oct. 7 crimes against women, men, and children released its landmark report on May 12, Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy felt something she had not experienced in a very long time: a deep sense of relief.
The report – Silenced No More: Sexual terror unveiled: the untold atrocities of October 7 and against hostages in captivity – was finally out, and Elkayam-Levy noted that it has received fair and accurate coverage in hundreds of news outlets, including the BBC, the UK’s Daily Mail, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Fox News, CNN, and The New York Times.
Elkayam-Levy, the commission’s principal author, accepted responsibility for work so heartbreaking and disturbing – documenting crimes of extraordinary cruelty – that many on her team simply could not continue. For two and a half years, she sat with the evidence as well as with survivors, and reviewed testimony about the sexual crimes committed by Hamas-led terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, and thereafter.
“One of the most important takeaways is the before-and-after reality of the report,” noted Danae Marx-Callaf, director of international communications and one of the four co-founders of the Civil Commission. “Our report shifts the conversation from ‘whether it happened’ to ‘what are the consequences.’
“Another important thing is recognition of the victims. The report will go around the world to different policy makers and not remain just the knowledge of a few in the world,” Marx-Callaf added.
Israeli women gaze at Nova victims poster. (credit: NIR LOTEM/REUTERS)
The comprehensive 298-page document details the sexual terror committed on and after Oct. 7, which the Civil Commission concluded was central to Hamas’s war strategy.
An expert in international law, human rights, and feminist legal theory, Elkayam-Levy serves as a Sophie Davis Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and was a 2024 Israel Prize laureate for her tireless work on the report. For years, she taught and wrote about war crimes, gender-based violence, and the responsibility of legal systems to protect the vulnerable and pursue justice.
But she never imagined that other highly committed women’s advocates from other nations – the same people with whom she spent a career teaching and working – would abandon her after Oct. 7.
In the days following the massacre, while Israel was still counting its dead, and families were searching for missing loved ones, Elkayam-Levy traveled to New York to address the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. There, she reported on the sexual atrocities that were being retrieved from both Hamas’s and the victims’ phones, from survivors’ testimonies, and the accounts of those charged with the holy task of identifying the mangled corpses.
She arrived in New York expecting that evidence of the atrocities committed against women would command urgent international attention. Instead, she found herself surrounded by the UN Committee’s apathy and hatred, as dozens of pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas activists came out to accuse Israel of genocide. The experience left a profound impression.
“I remember feeling devastated,” Elkayam-Levy told the Magazine in an interview at the commission’s office in Modi’in.
The silence was deafening
For a scholar of international law and human rights, that moment became a turning point. “The silence was deafening,” she said.
“I remember thinking we had to establish an organization. If the crimes were not being investigated, documented, and preserved with the urgency they demanded, we in Israel would have to do it ourselves,” she continued.
At first, the goal was simply to preserve the evidence before it disappeared. The terrorists’ horrific photographs and videos of sexual violence and torture were going viral through email, WhatsApp, and social media platforms.
“Hamas itself had uploaded and distributed large quantities of material to cause as much psychological damage as possible. We knew we had to preserve those images before they vanished,” Elkayam-Levy added.
What began as an emergency response soon evolved into the Civil Commission, an NGO established as an independent civilian initiative, separate from government institutions. The purpose was not only to investigate the crimes but to do so according to the highest international legal and evidentiary standards, ensuring that the findings could withstand scrutiny in courts, tribunals, academic research, and historical inquiry.
For Elkayam-Levy, the goal was to place a meticulously documented historical record before the world – a wake-up call not only to governments and legal institutions, but to humanity itself. The report, for instance, highlights an account from Raz Cohen, a Supernova music festival survivor: “The men pulled a woman from the vehicle... forcibly removed her clothing, and raped her… They repeatedly stabbed her, killing her… they continued to rape her after her death.”
Said Elkayam-Levy: “I never imagined something like this would happen here in Israel. For hours, terrorists moved freely through communities in southern Israel, murdering families in their homes, burning houses, taking hostages, raping them, and broadcasting much of it live.
“The attacks shattered more than Israel’s border defenses. They shattered a basic sense of security. One of the things we lost from the outset was our sense of safety. It felt like it could happen to any of us. Even today, that sense of vulnerability lingers,” Elkayam-Levy said.
Recalling her 51 days in Hamas captivity, Agam Goldstein, who was 17 when she was abducted, is quoted in the report, saying: “It’s these little things that break you… when you have no control over your body and no control over how to take care of your body.”
The comprehensive 298-page document details the sexual terror committed on and after Oct. 7– central to Hamas’s war strategy. (credit: NIR LOTEM/REUTERS)
A family burden
Elkayam-Levy is the mother of four children. Her youngest son was two-and-a-half years old when she co-founded the commission. Each day, she moved between two worlds. One was filled with evidence of cruelty, degradation, and suffering. The other was filled with children, homework, family dinners, and ordinary life.
“My children were the reason I did this,” she said. “They were what kept me sane.” Time with family became a form of emotional recovery. At the same time, she worried constantly about what she was missing. “I wasn’t there enough. They needed me,” she said wistfully.
Elkayam-Levy worried about what her family was also sacrificing. While she immersed herself in evidence, interviews, and the daily demands of the investigation, her husband carried most of the burden of raising their four children. “He understood and supported me. But it was a lot.”
When Elkayam-Levy was awarded the Israel Prize in the newly created category of Arvut Hadadit (Mutual Responsibility) in 2024, the honor was deeply meaningful, she said, but not primarily for professional reasons. Her older children suddenly saw the work through the eyes of the nation, after years of watching their mother disappear into a mission they were too young to fully understand.
“They take pride in it now. The recognition helped them understand why I had been absent so often, why the work mattered, and why I had felt compelled to continue despite its enormous toll emotionally and on family life,” she added.
Never the work of one person
The establishment of the Civil Commission on Oct. 7 Crimes by Hamas against Women, Children, and Families grew organically out of the independent, non-governmental Dvora Research Institute, which Elkayam-Levy established in 2021. Recognized as a prominent legal scholar, human rights expert, and active in the Israeli women’s protests against the judiciary overhaul, she quickly brought together a team of professionals and colleagues.
The Civil Council tapped legal experts, trauma specialists, archivists, researchers, and volunteers. It was headed by a board of high-level international advisers, including the Hon. Irwin Cotler, a former minister of justice and attorney-general of Canada, and Sheryl Sandberg, the American technology executive and Lean In Foundation founder. According to a commission spokesperson, Sandberg provided steadfast support, mentorship, and moral leadership from the earliest days.
The four co-founders of the Civil Commission (L to R): Danae Marx-Callaf, director of international communications; Israeli-Amarant; Nirit Samocha, COO, and Elkayam-Levy. (credit: CHEN SCHIMMEL)
“Very few people agreed to bear witness to these crimes,” explained Marx-Callaf, the communications director. “The exposure to this violent material is one of our biggest challenges, and the fact that [the authenticity of] these crimes were questioned even by prominent figures kept us motivated to do this work, despite the difficulties. We wanted to ensure that the world knows what happened and the victims receive the dignity they deserve.”
Among the key figures was Karen Jungblut, director of archives, whose task was both technical and deeply human, Elkayam-Levy said. “Before evidence could become part of a legal record, someone had to view it, authenticate it, classify it, preserve it, and ensure it would remain accessible to future investigators, prosecutors, and historians. That responsibility fell to Jungblut.
“She was among the first people to confront much of the material that would eventually form the backbone of the commission’s findings: evidence of murder, torture, humiliation, sexual violence, rape, and gang rape in the aftermath of the attacks. The scope of that effort was staggering.”
By the time the report was completed, the commission had reviewed more than 10,000 photographs and video segments representing approximately 18,000 minutes of footage, and conducted 430 in-depth interviews with survivors, former hostages, eyewitnesses, first responders, medical professionals, bereaved families, and others connected to the events of Oct. 7 and its aftermath.
Her task was not only to see it, but to create order from chaos – to transform scattered fragments of evidence into a permanent historical archive. Without such documentation, much of the evidence might have disappeared into deleted accounts, broken phones, fading memories, and the endless churn of social media. Instead, it became part of a carefully preserved historical record, Elkayam-Levy explained.
What emerged from a collection of seemingly isolated incidents were patterns that the Civil Commission studied to better understand the broader picture.
The report found recurring patterns of sexual violence, torture, humiliation, and degradation across multiple locations, leading investigators to conclude that these crimes reflected a wider operational method rather than the actions of a few individuals acting alone.
Social media as psychological warfare
One of the report’s most consequential findings concerns the role of social media itself. The videos, photographs, and live streams were not incidental byproducts of the attacks. According to the commission’s findings, they were part of the strategy.
“The terrorists were trained, instructed, and encouraged to maximize pain and suffering,” Elkayam-Levy said. “Many of these acts were documented by the perpetrators themselves and uploaded onto social media and other digital platforms.”
For investigators, this became one of the clearest indications that psychological warfare was not incidental to the attacks but part of the strategy itself. Among the videos captured were acts of extreme cruelty, helplessness, torture, degradation, and humiliation. Family members were often forced into impossible situations, compelled to witness the suffering of loved ones or participate in unspeakable acts intended to shatter personal dignity and destroy the sanctity of family bonds.
“They leveraged social media and digital platforms to maximize the terrorization,” the report concludes.
Sheryl Sandberg, Civil Commission advisory board member and Lean-In.org CEO, with Elkayam-Levy at the screening of the documentary 'Screams Before Silence,' at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Los Angeles. (credit: COCHAV ELKAYAM-LEVY)
An evolution of modern terrorism
Hamas made families bear witness, prompting the commission to come up with new terminology to describe a type of deliberate, widespread use of violence to impact an entire family.
Family members often learned what had happened to loved ones through videos circulating online before any official notification arrived. The report found that the violence was designed to harm the victims, traumatize families, communities, and the wider public through deliberate acts of forced witnessing.
“The videos created so much suffering for people who were not physically there,” Elkayam-Levy said, adding that the tactic represents an evolution in modern terrorism. The violence did not end at the crime scene. The phone became part of the weapon, and the screen an extension of the battlefield, intended to target family and loved ones by amplifying their trauma.
The report points to a troubling gap between the speed with which terrorist organizations exploit digital platforms and the ability of societies, legal systems, and the world’s leading technology platforms to respond.
Elkayam-Levy noted that she is deeply troubled that the phone usage in warfare now serves another purpose. “I have no doubt that these videos serve as inspiration for other terrorist groups around the world.”
A civil commission led by women
The Civil Commission team was made up largely of women, many of whom had spent years working in the fields of human rights, sexual violence, and victim advocacy. At the center of that effort was adv. Merav Israeli-Amarant, the commission’s CEO. “She’s my ‘partner in justice,’” Elkayam-Levy said.
Noted Israeli-Amarant: “To produce this report, our team spent months immersed in some of the most painful evidence imaginable.
“This is deeply lonely work, because so few people are willing to look at these materials, or even hear about them,” she added. “We understood from the outset that it would come at a personal cost. With the guidance and support of trauma experts, we carried not only a responsibility to the victims and survivors, but also to one another.
“The solidarity within the team was not simply a source of strength; it was a form of protection. In order to bear witness to such profound suffering, we had to ensure that no one carried that burden alone.”
The report includes evidence and pictures documenting a range of sexual atrocities, including the burning of genital areas, the insertion of foreign objects into genital areas, sexual torture, and sexual humiliation. These materials contributed to the identification and mapping of the 13 categories of sexual violence documented in the report. Throughout the process, extensive measures were taken to protect the privacy, dignity, and identities of victims and survivors whenever possible.
The hardest testimonies
For all the evidence collected by the commission, nothing prepared investigators for the conversations they would have with former hostages. People often assume the hardest part of the work was watching the videos.
Elkayam-Levy disagreed. “The hardest conversations were with families, the bereaved, the first responders, the search-and-rescue teams, and the doctors and nurses who treated survivors and returning hostages.
And, most difficult of all, the former hostages. The investigators found themselves confronting experiences that seemed to resist language.
“There aren’t enough words,” she said. “We don’t have enough legal definitions.”
From the outset, the commission partnered with the Israel Trauma Coalition to provide professional support for Civil Commission staff and volunteers exposed to profoundly disturbing material. Founded in 2001 at the initiative of the UJA-Federation of New York, the Israel Trauma Coalition is an NGO that serves as a cornerstone of trauma treatment in Israel.
“We realized from the beginning that we needed emotional support,” Elkayam-Levy said.
As the project evolved, the commission began establishing new criteria for those joining the effort. Professional experience became increasingly important, not only because of the complexity of the work, but because of the emotional demands it imposed.
“We understood that you needed people with significant professional experience,” Elkayam-Levy said. “People with young children were often especially affected.”
As a mother herself, Elkayam-Levy understood the challenge. After long days immersed in testimony, evidence, and legal analysis, she would leave the office and return to her family. Simply holding her toddler-age son became a source of comfort.” My children kept me sane,” she said. Time spent with them reminded her of what she was fighting for.
US President Donald Trump meets former hostage Rom Braslavski, a security guard working at the Nova festival who was too traumatized to visit the White House earlier this year with other former hostages. He has spoken out about his sexual abuse in Hamas captivity. (credit: LIANE GRUNBERG WAKABAYASHI)
The commission’s report records testimony from former hostages who described reaching a point where they no longer wanted to live. Yet something kept them going. Some say it was important to go back to their families and survive for their families. Others drew strength from faith, or the deep spiritual experiences in captivity that kept them alive, and fighting for their lives.”
Listening to former hostages speak about survival, Elkayam-Levy found herself thinking about other survivor narratives she had encountered throughout her career. “It sounds similar to the testimonies of Holocaust survivors,” she said. “In the most difficult reality, they wanted to keep their humanity. Their victory would be to establish a family, to continue with their lives, to show they survived for their family and for future generations.”
Yet even as she spoke about resilience, Elkayam-Levy was careful not to romanticize survival. The report makes clear that many victims, witnesses, and former hostages continue to carry profound psychological wounds. Among the accounts that remain with Elkayam-Levy is that of a psychiatrist who stayed beside a newly released hostage for three days – without sleeping the entire time.
Between family and duty
As the report neared completion, Elkayam-Levy found it increasingly difficult to set the work aside, even during the time she treasured for her family.
“The work often followed me home,” Elkayam-Levy recalled.
On one recent Shabbat, she caught herself thinking about the report’s final edits. “What if something happened to me before the report was finished?” she worried. The weight of the responsibility was enormous.
The commission’s report would even follow her into her dreams. One night, after reviewing agonizing evidence of sexual violence inflicted upon a woman, whose name and story had become etched in her mind, Elkayam-Levy found herself wrestling with a question that had accompanied the commission from the beginning. How much should be shown? How much could be revealed while still protecting the dignity of the victim?
That night, the victim appeared to her in a dream and said: “Share it. People need to know.”
Scrolling through her notes, she found a message she had written to herself: “In order to do this work, I had to believe that there is as much goodness in this world as there is evil.”
She paused. “The cruelty is real. But so is human courage. So is love. So is humanity. So is the goodness in people. Hold on to that. Especially now.”
Silenced No More, the Civil Commission Report on the Untold Atrocities of Oct. 7, can be viewed in its 16-page executive summary, and as a 298-page document, free to download from the Civil Commission’s website. www.civilc.org/silenced-no-more.
The writer is a Haifa-based journalist and artist.
