Mental Crisis Has Become a National Phenomenon – Defense-Tech Now Extends to Mental Health and Resilience

These remarks were delivered by Dr. Alona Barnea, Director of the Neurotechnology Division at the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) Directorate of Defense Research & Development (DDR&D), at the International DefenseTech Summit led by the IMOD’s DDR&D, in collaboration with the Yuval Ne’eman Workshop for Science, Technology & Security at Tel Aviv University.

Dr. Barnea further stated: “What has changed over the past two years is an unprecedented scale of mental health casualties – mental crisis has become a national phenomenon. The tools at our disposal are no longer sufficient, which is why we are leading the defense-tech sector into the realm of mental health and cognitive resilience.

“Before October 7th, we focused primarily on integrating artificial intelligence with the human brain. Since the war, we have channeled these capabilities toward strengthening mental resilience. The number of startups in this field has surged beyond expectations – we discovered that mental health is relevant to nearly every company we work with, enabling us to adapt existing technologies into solutions for this domain.

“We are rethinking how we treat and prevent post-trauma, aiming to create change at both the individual and national levels. It’s important to emphasize: these technologies are not meant to replace therapists, but rather to expand reach. AI and big data will serve as tools for extracting deeper insights from therapeutic processes, identifying new patterns, and enabling therapists to improve treatment quality and reach more people who need it.”

Drawing lessons from Israel’s ongoing military operations and real-world scenarios, the International DefenseTech Summit showcases cutting-edge advances in emerging technologies that are shaping the future of global security.

Key participants include: Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram, IMOD Director General; Brig. Gen. (Res.) Dr. Daniel Gold, Head of the DDR&D; Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel, Conference Chairman and Director of the Blavatnik ICRC at Tel Aviv University; Brig. Gen. Benny Aminov, Head of the DDR&D’s Military R&D Unit; Avi Berger, Head of the DDR&D’s Space Program Office; Maj. Gen. (Res.) Nitzan Alon; Dame Fiona Murray, Associate Dean of Innovation at MIT School of Management; Michael Dodd, U.S. Assistant Secretary of War for Critical Technologies and Acting Deputy Director of the Defense Innovation Unit; Shaun Maguire, Partner at Sequoia Capital; Dr. Christian Steinborn, Representative of Rheinmetall; and many other senior officials from Israel and worldwide.