Aviv Bar Zohar

Aviv Bar Zohar is a retired Israeli Air Force colonel with over 35 years of operational experience in air defense, UAV operations, and aerial command and control. He is a strategic adviser to the Defense Ministry and defense start-ups, and currently serves as a senior expert in Israel’s National Drone Initiative. A former program manager at Elbit Systems, he led C2 and counter-UAS development projects. Aviv is completing his PhD in law at Reichman University, focusing on the legality of lethal autonomous weapons under international humanitarian law. He lives in Kfar Yona, is married, and has two children.

Canadian sailors walk by a drone in the Arctic

When machines kill: The dangerous responsibility gap in autonomous warfare - analysis

An autonomous weapon has the built-in capability to select the suspected target and decide to execute the lethal action without human involvement.

AUGUST 31, 2025
Drone operators from Ukraine's 109th Brigade prepare a test flight of a night-bombing drone on August 10, 2025 in Donetsk Region, Ukraine.

Border wars from above: 70% of cross-border incidents involve drones - opinion

As nations race to secure their expanded border zones, the question is no longer whether these boundaries will be tested, but how quickly we can detect, classify, and neutralize threats.

AUGUST 13, 2025
XTEND drones have been used in real battle situations.

From Gaza to Ukraine, drones are changing the face of modern warfare

Drones are cheap and easy to produce, and are changing the way that wars are bing fought from Khan Yunis to Kyiv.

AUGUST 3, 2025

Israel may be left unprepared for next big drone threat without action today - opinion

Israel must recalibrate its thinking and understand that drones and UAVs penetrating airspace will become routine in warfare. Not all will be intercepted—not even close. Our mindset must shift.

JULY 28, 2025
An Iranian Shahed 171 drone dropping a bomb as part of a military exercise in the Gulf, in Iran

Robots instead of soldiers on the battlefield: Sounds futuristic, but i's the reality

Autonomous weapons raise moral, legal, and ethical concerns, but in Israel, debate over limits is nearly absent. These systems act without human contact - and without hesitation.

JUNE 10, 2025
IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip