Israel’s State Comptroller, Matanyahu Englman, announced that his office’s long-anticipated audit on the Nova Music Festival massacre is close to completion and includes major new revelations. Speaking at the Security and Technology Conference at the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT) on Tuesday, Englman noted that the report “differs significantly from the IDF’s internal investigation and exposes failures at the highest levels of leadership.”
Englman stressed that the investigation covers the entire chain of command—from the Prime Minister and Defense Minister to the heads of the Shin Bet and IDF, along with other senior officials.
“We’re not just focusing on mistakes in the field. The public deserves to know what its leaders were doing before, during, and after October 7,” he said. Englman also expressed frustration over the lack of cooperation from some government figures, pointing specifically to former Prime Minister Yair Lapid for declining to participate. “Everyone needs to be part of this process—especially those who publicly assumed responsibility,” he added.
One of the most moving speakers at the event was JCT graduate Dov Oster, former Chief Technology Officer in the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defense R\&D and father of Capt. Eitan Oster, an Egoz commando who fell in Lebanon last October. Before receiving the College’s 2025 Lev Defense Prize, Oster issued a heartfelt call for national reflection.
“There were lives lost in this war that could have been saved with better application of existing technologies,” Oster said. “Besides my personal grief, I carry two regrets: that my generation grew too comfortable—and that we created advanced defense technologies but failed to deploy them where they were most needed.”
He also praised JCT’s critical contributions to Israel’s defense capabilities. “The Jerusalem College of Technology has been instrumental in developing the world’s first laser-based interception system,” he said, referring to Iron Beam, a homegrown directed-energy air defense system that made its first operational interception of Hezbollah drones just this Wednesday. Last year, JCT alumnus Major H. received the Lev Defense Prize for his key role in developing and fielding the Iron Beam system.
