[News] Scanary: Israeli war tech repurposed to police world’s public spaces

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/technology/scanary--israeli-war-tech-repurposed-to-police-world-s-publi>
Scanary: Israeli war tech repurposed to police world’s public spaces
Al Mayadeen English
July 26, 2025
------------------------------

Born from decades of occupation and digital warfare, Israeli AI
surveillance tech could spread the same systems of control and repression
far beyond occupied Palestine.

   - [image: 'Israel’s' war tech repurposed to police the world’s public
   spaces]
   <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2025/7/25/fe5cce09-3baf-427c-8b1f-d7a821a3ad56.jpeg?width=1000>
   Scanary system flags a plastic toy hidden under a shirt from 33 feet (10
   meters) away (@Scanary_ai / X)

A new Israeli startup, Scanary, has unveiled an AI-powered security
screening platform that it claims could revolutionize public safety at
airports, stadiums, and transport hubs. But behind its polished narrative
of efficiency and innovation lies a deeper concern: the expansion of Israeli
occupation-linked
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/gaza--testing-ground-for-israeli-ai-tools--raising-ethical-c>
surveillance technologies into global civilian life.

Scanary, dubbed the "all-seeing eye" and based in Tel Aviv, says its system
can detect weapons and other threats without requiring people to stop or be
physically screened, a “frictionless” process touted as safer and more
convenient. The company claims the radar-based tech can scan up to 25,000
people per hour while protecting privacy.

Even when it’s just the CEO’s son’s plastic toy hidden under a shirt — our
system flagged it from 33 feet (10 meters) away.
That’s how seriously our AI takes weapon detection.
And it’s just getting started.
Real-time. Seamless. Checkpoint-Free.#AI
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/AI?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
#WeaponDetection
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeaponDetection?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
#Scanary <https://twitter.com/hashtag/Scanary?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
pic.twitter.com/ZkraPcF3T7 <https://t.co/ZkraPcF3T7>
— Scanary (@Scanary_ai) July 1, 2025
<https://twitter.com/Scanary_ai/status/1940042207983194284?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

What’s not advertised as openly is that Scanary’s origins lie in decades of
counterinsurgency operations developed within the Israeli occupation’s
security and military establishment, specifically, from tactics used to
monitor and control Palestinians in occupied territories.
Founded by ex-Rafael engineer, Israeli AI draws from Gaza war tech

The startup was co-founded by Dr. Gideon Levita, former chief radar
engineer at Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the same military firm behind
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-rafael-risks-eu-funding-loss-over-gaza-drone-kill-fo>
the Iron Dome and Trophy systems, used extensively in “Israel’s” ongoing
genocide in Gaza.

It is worth mentioning that Israeli arms company Rafael
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--to-deploy-autonomous-guns-that--track-targets--in-w>
may
lose its EU grant funding after it posted a PR clip on the social media
platform X showing the killing of a man in Gaza by its drone, the Spike
Firefly
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-drone-strike-kills-four-in-gaza>
.

Israeli arms company Rafael uses footage of a Palestinian targeted and
killed by a Spike FireFly drone in Gaza to promote its military products
pic.twitter.com/71ItX4nset <https://t.co/71ItX4nset>
— TRT World (@trtworld) July 13, 2025
<https://twitter.com/trtworld/status/1944296104033448332?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Moreover, if any evidence of non-compliance emerges, necessary steps taken
can include potentially reclaiming some or all of the funding granted, an
EU Commission official told* EUobserver.*

Scanary’s CEO, Ronen Yashvitz, is a veteran of Unit 8200, the Israeli
military’s notorious cyber-intelligence arm, which has long been implicated
in surveillance of Palestinians and digital espionage across the region. He
openly describes the company’s mission as one of disruption, eliminating
conventional security checkpoints and replacing them with continuous,
real-time scanning based on radar and AI.
Modus operandi

The system operates by placing dual radar sensors across a 200-square-meter
zone, collecting 10 images per second per person. An AI-driven
classification engine then identifies materials and flags potential
threats, sending real-time alerts, complete with video and object-location
data, to security personnel.

Though the company claims the system does not collect facial images or
biometric data, critics argue that the normalization of such technology
risks reinforcing a culture of total surveillance under the guise of
security, particularly troubling when pioneered by companies deeply
enmeshed in the Israeli occupation's apparatus of control.

Scanary markets its product as ideal for stadiums, airports, and even US
schools, pointing to its ability to detect pyrotechnics and weapons in
crowds. But rights advocates warn that the expansion of these tools could
facilitate the same repressive surveillance and racial profiling
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/technology/how-microsoft-became-a-hub-for-israeli-intelligence--control>
used against Palestinians, now applied to broader civilian populations
under the banner of “safety".

The company has already raised $3.5 million in seed funding and is
preparing pilot deployments in Israeli airports and train stations,
infrastructure historically tied to the militarization of daily life and
control of movement within the occupation. Scanary is also seeking
regulatory approval in the US, after securing CE and GDPR certifications in
Europe.
Wider context

This comes as the global security screening market is projected to hit
$13.8 billion by 2030. But experts warn that funneling this demand into
unregulated or military-backed tech firms, especially those with records of
occupying and surveilling an entire civilian population, risks exporting
authoritarian practices under the veneer of innovation.

Scanary’s main US competitor, Evolv Technologies, has already faced
scrutiny from the US Federal Trade Commission over misleading claims about
its AI's threat detection abilities
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/technology/microsoft-admits-supplying-ai-to--israel--amid-gaza-carnage>.
Similar concerns loom over Scanary, which has yet to conduct any public
live demonstrations.

As Gaza remains under
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/122-palestinians--including-83-children--killed-by-starvatio>
siege, with thousands killed in Israeli airstrikes
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israel-soldiers-on-ai-training-for-northern-front>
and military operations increasingly driven by AI-enabled systems developed
by firms like Rafael, the expansion of such surveillance technologies into
international civilian spaces raises pressing ethical concerns. Critics
warn that exporting tools born out of an occupation context and used
extensively in war zones may normalize invasive surveillance under the
guise of public safety.
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