$ONDS THE LEGACY ISRAELI DEFENSE INDUSTRY IS “IN PANIC” OVER ONDAS👀🔥🤫 One of the largest Israeli financial publications just ran a major piece on Ondas, but it was in Hebrew and behind a paywall. 99% of investors don’t even know it exists. Here’s what you need to know: •Elbit, IAI, and Rafael control ~70% of Israeli defense revenue. All three competed for a $100M MoD border protection tender in January 2026. All three lost to Ondas. •A competitor CEO told TheMarker directly: “The big defense companies in Israel are in panic over Ondas. There was a status quo — and suddenly a player arrives that threatens to take deals and core assets from them.” •Ondas co-CEO Lugassi spent seven years as Rafael’s VP of Marketing. He recruited Rafael’s former VP of M&A, VP of R&D, and chief of staff to the chairman — all now concentrated on Ondas’s M&A and due diligence teams. •The same competitor described them as “the bandits of the industry — the individual people who actually move organizations forward.” They left because they believed core Rafael assets were being underleveraged. •Ondas has targeted mPrest for acquisition — the command-and-control software widely described as the operational brain of Iron Dome. No deal closed, no terms disclosed. •Ondas acquired 51% of Smart Precision Optics, based at Kibbutz Shamir, which supplies optical components and lenses directly to Iron Dome interceptors, laser observation systems, and pilot helmets. •A live tender is currently underway with Ondas competing head-to-head with Rafael on an airborne area interceptor for UAV-level drone threats. •One source close to the company: “From the outside it looks like a big American wallet. But these are value-driven people who came to build a new innovative defense organization.” •Major acquisitions in the United States are currently being prepared, per TheMarker. No targets or terms disclosed.themarker.com/weekend/2026-0…4jY