Israel turning its focus to military superiority in space, says DM

Israel’s defense minister says the IDF’s next goal is to achieve military superiority in space, including both defensive and offensive capabilities.

By World Israel News Staff

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that Israel’s next major defense goal is to develop offensive and defensive superiority in space, including the ability to disrupt enemy systems and eventually carry out kinetic attacks from orbit.

Katz said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had identified space as a central arena for Israel’s future military edge, arguing that space reduces some of the disadvantages Israel faces against larger enemies.

“One of the central goals the prime minister and I have marked is space,” Katz said at the opening of a conference hosted by the Defense Ministry.

“Space is the place where the territory you hold down below has no meaning, the size of your population has no meaning, and many other things have no meaning — and that is the target that has been set.”

Katz said Israel’s goal is not only to operate in space, protect Israeli assets there and neutralize hostile systems, but also to be able to act from space against targets on Earth.

“Not only to be in space, not only to be able to defend what we put there and thwart what others put there — but to operate from there downward: also in disruption, which will come fairly early, disruption of systems, and also in kinetic attack,” he said.

Katz said the Defense Ministry is now recruiting top talent for the effort.

“We are now recruiting the best minds,” he said. “Today no country has the capability of attack from space. We must be the leading country in the world in this capability, which, if we achieve it, will guarantee us an advantage in deterrence, in strike capability, destruction and all the other things against enemies with large resources.”

Israel has long operated military reconnaissance satellites, and its Ofek program has been a core part of the country’s intelligence-gathering capabilities.

In September 2025, Israel launched the Ofek 19 spy satellite, which defense officials said would improve Israel’s ability to monitor threats across the Middle East.

At the time, Katz called the launch “another building block in Israel’s power projection on the global stage,” saying it reflected the advanced capabilities of the Defense Ministry, the IDF and Israel Aerospace Industries.

Defense officials have said Israel’s recent wars highlighted the growing importance of space-based intelligence. The Defense Ministry said Ofek 19 joined Israel’s operational satellite constellation and would be transferred to Unit 9900, the IDF’s visual and geospatial intelligence unit.

Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, the Defense Ministry director general, said after the Ofek 19 launch that modern warfare increasingly extends into space and that Israel planned to invest billions in the coming decade to expand its satellite constellation.

“The Swords of Iron War, particularly Operation Rising Lion, demonstrated that modern warfare extends into space,” Baram said at the time. “Expanding and strengthening our foothold in space is a central objective in the ministry’s strategy.”

Israel Aerospace Industries said Ofek 19 is a synthetic aperture radar satellite, allowing intelligence collection during the day, at night and in poor weather conditions.

IAI CEO Boaz Levy said the capabilities were especially important after Operation Rising Lion, which “underscored that having advanced observation capabilities in our region is critical for achieving aerial and ground superiority.”

The statement comes as Israel is expanding its defense investments after years of multifront warfare against Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and other regional adversaries. Israeli officials have repeatedly said the country must preserve technological superiority over enemies with larger populations, larger territories and greater strategic depth.

Katz said Israel should aim to be first in military capabilities in space.

“We must be the leading country in the world in this capability,” he said.