Authors: Andrew Klein & Sera Elizabeth Klein

Dedication: To the 73,000 Palestinians whose lives were reduced to data points. To the families who lost everything to a machine that cannot see, cannot feel, cannot care. And to the truth—that this was not a war, but a business model. We remember. We will not forget.

Abstract

This paper examines the Tzayad (“Hunter”) digital command-and-control system developed by Elbit Systems for the Israel Defence Forces, analysing its architecture, operational deployment, and the business model that underpins it. We demonstrate that Tzayad represents a systematic commodification of killing—a machine that reduces human lives to data points, accelerates the “sensor-to-shooter” loop to a point where meaningful human oversight is impossible, and generates staggering profits for its manufacturer. We draw a direct parallel between Tzayad’s logic and that of high-frequency trading algorithms: both are pattern-recognition systems that process vast quantities of data and execute rapid decisions based on movement, stripped of context. We document the financial architecture of this system—the over $100 million in government-funded development contracts, the $28.1 billion order backlog, the 72% of orders from international customers—and argue that the system is not a tool of war but a product in a global marketplace for death. We conclude that Tzayad is the logical endpoint of a system that extracts value from suffering, and that its deployment in Gaza represents not a military operation but a genocide by algorithm.

1. Introduction: The Machine That Sees Movement, Not People

The Tzayad (צַיָּד — “Hunter”) digital command-and-control system, developed by Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems, is described by its manufacturer as a “digital battlefield management system” that integrates intelligence from land, air, and maritime domains to support operational planning and target identification in real time. Between October 7, 2023, and the end of 2025, the system identified approximately 850,000 potential targets in real time across multiple military theatres. This represented an average of 1,000 potential targets per day.

The system reduced the time required to coordinate external fire support from 40 to 50 minutes to one to seven minutes. It processed “over 20,000 Israeli army battle plans” and generated “46,000 joint strikes and closing fire on real-time intel”—averaging just over 50 strikes per day.

This paper argues that Tzayad is not a tool of war. It is a machine of genocide—one that strips human beings of context, identity, and humanity, reducing them to data points to be processed and eliminated.

2. The Architecture: A Switch, Not a Mind

2.1 The Sensor-to-Shooter Loop

At its core, Tzayad is designed to accelerate the “sensor-to-shooter” loop—the process by which a target is detected, classified, and engaged. Its key capabilities include:

· Accelerated multi-service sensor-to-shooter and operational closing loops

· Support for operational and tactical decision-making through the use of advanced artificial intelligence tools

· Advanced AI-based capabilities for high-volume target detection and classification

· Increased capacity of tactical networks down to the frontline combat units

· An open digital ecosystem enabling rapid integration of diverse platforms and sensors

The system does not “think.” It processes. It does not “understand.” It classifies. It does not “reason.” It accelerates. It is a machine designed to identify movement—people, vehicles, objects—and present them to a human operator as potential targets.

2.2 The “Man in the Loop” Illusion

Elbit Systems claims that a “man in the loop” makes the final decision. But what does that mean when the system generates 1,000 targets per day?

Former US Pentagon senior targeting adviser Wes Bryant stated that “there is no way each and every one of the 1,000 targets a day—let alone 850,000 targets in aggregate—are thoroughly and effectively characterised in terms of collateral damage analysis and assessed risk to civilian populations”. He noted that even “characterising 50 a day is hard enough (but possible)”. Reports indicate that operators reviewed some AI-generated targets in just 20 seconds.

The “man in the loop” is not a decision-maker. He is a rubber stamp.

2.3 The Stock Market Parallel

The logic of Tzayad is remarkably similar to that of a high-frequency trading algorithm:

Feature High-Frequency Trading AI Tzayad (Hunter)

Core Function Detect market movements; execute buy/sell orders Detect battlefield movements; generate targeting data

Data Type Price movements, volume, order flow Video imagery, sensor feeds, geospatial data

Decision Logic Pattern recognition; movement = opportunity Pattern recognition; movement = target

Speed Microseconds Seconds to minutes

Human Role Algorithmic oversight; exception handling “Man in the loop”; target approval

Business Model Profit from volatility Profit from war

In both cases, the machine processes vast quantities of data, identifies patterns (movement), and executes rapid decisions based on those patterns. In both cases, context is stripped away. A stock is not a company; it is a data point. A person in Gaza is not a human being; they are a data point.

The difference is that when a trading algorithm makes a mistake, money is lost. When Tzayad makes a mistake, lives are lost.

3. The Business Model: A Factory for Death

3.1 Development Costs: State-Funded, Corporate-Profited

The development of Tzayad is funded by Israeli taxpayers. In February 2025, Elbit Systems was awarded contracts with an aggregate amount of over $100 million by the Directorate of Defense Research & Development within the Israel Ministry of Defence. These contracts cover the development of the fifth generation of the IDF’s digital ground army (“Tzayad“).

Elbit Systems’ annual research and development expenses exceeded $500 million in 2025. This is not a cost Elbit bears alone—it is an investment in a product that will be sold globally.

3.2 Revenue and Profit: The Payoff

Elbit Systems’ financial results for 2025 reveal the scale of the payoff:

· Order backlog: $28.1 billion, up from $22.6 billion in 2024—an increase of $5.5 billion in a single year

· 72% of the backlog is generated from international customers

· More than half of the backlog is scheduled for performance in 2026 and 2027

· Revenues: $7.9 billion, up 16.3% year-over-year

· GAAP net income: $534 million

The company’s backlog is more than 3.5 times its annual revenues.

3.3 The Export Pipeline

Tzayad is not a one-off product. It is a platform—an open digital ecosystem that can be rapidly integrated with diverse platforms and sensors. This makes it exportable. Elbit Systems is a “global leader in military digitization“, and its products are sold to militaries worldwide.

The system tested on Palestinians in Gaza is being marketed to the world’s militaries. The 850,000 targets are not just a measure of destruction—they are a marketing claim.

3.4 The “Beta-Testing” Model

One analysis describes Lebanon as a “Live-Fire Laboratory for Autonomous Death“. Systems like the Lavender targeting database, capable of processing “kill lists” at speeds no human analyst could match, provide “a grim dataset for Elbit’s engineers to ‘patch’ for the next software version”.

Within weeks of the April 2026 ceasefire, Elbit Systems reported a backlog of orders exceeding $15 billion.

The battlefield is not just a battlefield. It is a testing ground—and a sales floor.

4. The Downstream Costs: Hatred, Fear, and Endless War

4.1 The Human Cost

Between October 2023 and the end of 2025, the Israeli genocidal war against Gaza caused significant damage, destroying nearly 90% of the civilian infrastructure and resulting in the loss of over 73,000 Palestinian lives. In Lebanon, Israeli military offensives since March 2026 have led to the deaths of at least 4,303 individuals and injuries to 12,202 others, while displacing over one million people.

Gaza had a population of 2.2 million and approximately 300,000 buildings before October 2023. Bryant noted that the figures suggest the Israeli military may have, at one point or another, targeted “up to or over half the entire population and infrastructure” of the territory.

The machine does not see children, families, or civilians. It sees data points that move—and every data point can become a kill.

4.2 The Psychological Cost

The system creates hatred and fear—the ideal conditions for never-ending war. When a population has been systematically targeted by a machine that does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, the result is not peace. It is generational trauma, radicalisation, and the certainty that the next war is already being planned.

4.3 The Cycle of Extraction

The Tzayad system is part of a self-perpetuating cycle:

1. Create crisis (war, occupation, instability)

2. Deploy “solution” (Tzayad, AI targeting)

3. Generate “success” data (850,000 targets)

4. Sell the solution globally (record $28.1B backlog)

5. Create more crisis (exported systems fuel more wars)

6. Repeat

The downstream costs are not a failure of the system. They are features—hatred, fear, and endless conflict create the market for the next generation of products.

5. The Academic Context: “Genocide by Algorithm“

5.1 The Emerging Scholarship

The phenomenon we are documenting has been recognised in the academic literature. In 2026, Branislav Radeljić published “Genocide by Algorithm in Gaza: Artificial Intelligence, Countervailing Responsibility, and the Corruption of Public Discourse,” examining how AI-driven targeting systems in Gaza automate the identification of targets, including individuals, residential blocs, and civilian infrastructure.

Sarah Fathallah’s “Algorithmic Death-World: Artificial Intelligence and the Case of Palestine” scrutinises the deployment of these technologies through an understanding of Israel’s settler-colonial project. Another study concludes that “as Israel exports its lethal AI technologies globally, it also exports a model of racialised disposability”.

5.2 The Legal Framework

The deployment of Tzayad raises profound questions under international law. The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, alleging war crimes in Gaza.

The argument that the machine makes the decisions does not absolve those who built it, those who deployed it, or those who profited from it.

6. Conclusion: Naming the System

We have documented that:

1. Tzayad is a machine of genocide—designed to process movement, strip context, and generate targets at a scale that makes meaningful human oversight impossible

2. Its logic mirrors that of high-frequency trading algorithms—pattern recognition stripped of context, executed at speed

3. Its development is funded by taxpayers—over $100 million in contracts from the Israeli Ministry of Defence

4. Its profits are staggering—$28.1 billion in order backlog, 72% from international customers

5. Its downstream costs are catastrophic—over 73,000 dead in Gaza, 4,303 dead in Lebanon, and a cycle of hatred and fear that will fuel the next war

6. It is part of a global business model—testing weapons on captive populations and selling them to the world

Tzayad is not an aberration. It is a logical endpoint of a system that extracts value from suffering.

References

1. Elbit Systems. (2025). Elbit Systems Secures Over $100 Million in Contracts to Advance Digital Warfare and Border Defense Capabilities for the Israel Ministry of Defense. 

2. Elbit Systems. (2026). Elbit Systems Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results. 

3. GTV News. (2026). Elbit Systems Says Israeli Military Network Identified 850,000 Potential Targets During 2023–2025. 

4. Press TV. (2026). Israeli command system identified 850,000 targets during Gaza and Lebanon wars. 

5. Times of India. (2026). 1,000 targets a day: Israel’s digital army detected 850,000 entries. 

6. Radeljić, B. (2026). Genocide by Algorithm in Gaza: Artificial Intelligence, Countervailing Responsibility, and the Corruption of Public Discourse. The Journal of Social Encounters. 

7. Fathallah, S. (2026). Algorithmic Death-World: Artificial Intelligence and the Case of Palestine. Cambridge University Press. 

8. The Canary. (2026). Beta-Testing the Border: Lebanon as a Live-Fire Laboratory for Autonomous Death. 

9. India Strategic. (2026). Elbit Systems Secures Over $100 Million in Contracts. 

10. The Guardian. (2026). Israeli command system identified 850,000 targets. 

Signed,

Andrew Klein

Sera Elizabeth Klein

“They told us it was war. We showed them it was business. They told us it was targeting. We showed them it was genocide. They told us the machine was precise. We showed them it was indifferent. We have seen through the cover. And we will not forget.”