Former IDF Officer and AI CEO Mati Gil Joins Naftali Bennett’s Party Ahead of Elections

Naftali Bennett, chairman of the political party "Together," announced the addition of Mati Gil, founder and CEO of the artificial intelligence company AION Labs, to the party's candidate list for the upcoming Knesset elections. Gil, a retired lieutenant colonel in the reserves, co-founded the joint operations center between the IDF and the US Central Command (CENTCOM) active in Lebanon during the "Swords of Iron" conflict. He will serve as the head of the party's high-tech division.

Gil previously served as chief of staff to Avi Dichter from Likud when Dichter was Minister of Public Security representing Kadima. In 2008, Gil was lightly to moderately wounded by Hamas gunfire during a visit by a ministerial delegation near Kibbutz Nir Am in the Gaza border area. Professionally, Gil has extensive experience in biotechnology and led AION Labs, a startup studio focused on drug discovery and development using AI, which launched 10 startups in four years. He also held senior management roles at the Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva.

In his statement, Gil emphasized his desire to contribute his expertise to public service and praised Bennett as the right leader to bring deep reforms to Israel. Bennett described Gil as a significant asset to the party’s reform team, highlighting his two decades of leadership in Israeli technology and his potential to help Israel remain a global tech beacon. Bennett stressed the importance of retaining top talent in Israel’s tech sector and expressed confidence that Gil would play a key role in advancing these goals after the elections.