Former Mossad Chief David Barnea Joins Ondas
6 August, 2026
Barnea will serve as Global President and Chairman of Ondas Defense, leading global expansion, technology integration, and strategic acquisitions. Shares rose nearly 10% on the news
U.S.-listed Ondas Holdings has appointed former Mossad Director David Barnea as Global President and Chairman of Ondas Defense, strengthening the company’s ambition to become a fully integrated global defense technology provider.
Barnea joins Ondas’ senior leadership team and will support the company’s international expansion, strategic technology development, and relationships with governments and defense organizations. He will work closely with Ondas Chairman and CEO Eric Brock and Oshri Lugasi, Co-CEO of Ondas Autonomous Systems.
The appointment is part of Ondas’ strategy to build an integrated defense technology company centered on four complementary operational domains: Aerial Security, ISR & Persistent Intelligence, Precision Strike, and Autonomous Ground Systems. These capabilities are designed to operate through a unified software and command layer that integrates intelligence, communications, mission planning, decision-making, and coordinated operations.
Building an Integrated Defense Platform
As President of Ondas Defense, Barnea will help drive the company’s international strategy, initially focusing on the Middle East, Europe, and Asia—regions experiencing rapidly growing investment in autonomous defense systems, counter-UAS technologies, ISR platforms, precision strike capabilities, and autonomous ground systems.
He will also play a central role in Ondas’ acquisition strategy, helping identify operational capability gaps, evaluate technology investments and acquisitions, and prioritize the integration of new technologies into the company’s unified defense platform.
Barnea brings three decades of national security experience. He served as Director of the Mossad from 2021 to 2026, leading Israel’s intelligence agency through one of the most operationally intensive periods in its history, including conflicts involving Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, complex hostage negotiations, and sensitive intelligence operations across multiple theaters. Before joining the Mossad, he served in the Israel Defense Forces’ elite Sayeret Matkal unit, later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration, began his private-sector career in mergers and acquisitions at a leading Israeli investment bank, and joined Israel’s intelligence community in 1995.
Eric Brock said Barnea “led one of the world’s most sophisticated intelligence organizations during a period of active conflict, rapidly evolving threats, and highly complex operations in which artificial intelligence, advanced communications, cyber capabilities, and specialized technologies played an increasingly central role.”
Barnea added: “The nature of warfare is changing rapidly. Operational advantage now depends on the ability to integrate intelligence, artificial intelligence, resilient communications, autonomous platforms, and precision strike capabilities into a single coordinated environment.”
He continued: “Ondas has assembled a unique portfolio of technologies, companies, and experienced teams across some of the most critical areas of modern defense. The next step is to unify these capabilities, develop a focused operational and technology strategy, and build an integrated platform that can respond rapidly to the evolving requirements of governments and national security organizations.”
Growth Through Acquisitions
Ondas provides autonomous systems, robotics, and mission-critical technologies for defense, homeland security, public safety, critical infrastructure, and industrial markets.
Over the past three years, the company has built much of its defense business through acquisitions of Israeli companies, including Iron Drone, Airobotics, Sentrycs, Apeiro Motion, Roboteam, and 4M Defense. It also acquired the Israeli non-defense companies INDO Earth Moving and Omnisys.
This acquisition strategy has fueled rapid growth. In the first quarter of 2026, Ondas reported revenue of approximately $50 million, ten times higher than a year earlier. The company expects full-year 2026 revenue of approximately $390 million.
In January 2026, Ondas raised $1 billion in a public offering to finance its expansion. By the end of the first quarter, the company held approximately $1.48 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
Following the announcement of Barnea’s appointment, Ondas shares jumped about 9.7% on Nasdaq, giving the company a market capitalization of approximately $4.69 billion.
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Posted in tags: Ondas
