Defense Tech Week hosted by Israel’s MOD DDR&D and Tel Aviv University is always a showcase of innovation, ambition, and the sheer complexity of building technology that keeps soldiers alive. But at this year’s event, one moment stood out above the rest. It was not the polished presentations or the big-name investors. It was the feeling in the room when The Sandbox, powered by Let’s Do Something, hosted its debut gathering.

The Sandbox is known as Israel’s first hardware-first nonprofit defense tech incubator. On paper, that means founders, mentors, and engineers working to turn raw battlefield needs into usable products. Being there made it clear that it is much more than a program. It is a community of people who have seen what happens when the country lacks equipment, who remember the urgency of the days after October 7, and who decided that instead of waiting for the system to catch up, they would build the tools themselves.

Breaking into defense tech is notoriously difficult. The barriers are technical, bureaucratic, logistical, and financial. These hurdles keep even the most promising ideas from ever reaching a soldier’s hands. Yet this room was full of people willing to push through all of it. Young entrepreneurs stood next to decorated veterans, Ministry of Defense officials, engineers, and philanthropists. Many of them are working long hours with no expectation of massive payout. What drives them is something far simpler and far more powerful: serving the country.

That spirit was echoed throughout the event. For founders, meeting IDF partners and people who truly understood their technology was not just helpful. It was validating. As one participant put it, the clarity of mission is what pulls people in and keeps them pushing forward. You could feel that clarity in every conversation happening on the sidelines and in every moment someone stood up to explain the problem they were trying to solve.

The Sandbox’s origin story, tied to the memory of David Newman, gives the initiative an authenticity that is rare in the tech world. What started as a grassroots effort to help units obtain critical equipment has grown into a structured space where hardware innovators can move quickly, test with real users, and respond to urgent operational needs. The presence of senior IDF officials and Ministry of Defense representatives underscored how seriously that work is being taken.

The real story of the night was not about institutions. It was about individuals. It was watching people step up, often quietly, because they believe they can make a difference. It was seeing founders who have no guarantee of success get on stage anyway. It was being reminded that courage is not always dramatic. Sometimes it looks like a small group of people deciding to solve a problem that no one else has the bandwidth to fix.

Events like this reveal something important about Israel’s defense tech ecosystem. Despite the challenges and despite the weight of the moment, there are people who refuse to let gaps go unaddressed. Not because there is a market opportunity, but because there is a national responsibility. Seeing that up close, watching people try, fail, try again, and build anyway, was perhaps the most inspiring part of all.

In a sector filled with complexity, The Sandbox is proving that determination, mission, and service can still break through. Judging by the energy in the room, this is only the beginning.

Photo Credit: Israel Ministry of Defense