Nir Oz Launches 'Bina BeLev' Tech Center to Revive Community After October 7 Tragedy
Nearly three years after the devastating October 7 attack that left the Nir Oz kibbutz deeply scarred, the burned and silent "Gan Tut" and "Gan Brosh" kindergartens have been repurposed to breathe new life into the community. These kindergartens, where children of victims including Bibas and Kdam-Siman Tov once played, stood as stark reminders of the massacre in which one in four residents was killed or abducted.
On Monday, in a ceremony attended by President Isaac Herzog, the "Bina BeLev" center was inaugurated on the foundations of the former kindergartens. This new technological and economic hub aims to attract young people, create jobs, and revitalize the kibbutz, which currently has only 25 residents. The center operates as a public benefit company, focusing on research and development in collaboration with southern industrial and agricultural entities, serving as an entrepreneurship incubator and a training campus specializing in artificial intelligence technologies.
The initiative is led by high-tech entrepreneur Yossi Vardi (founder and CEO), AI expert Dr. Gilad Zlotkin (technology director), and community liaison Yizhar Lifshitz, a native of Nir Oz and son of Yoheved Lifshitz, who was released after 17 days in captivity, and the late journalist Oded Lifshitz, who was abducted and murdered during the attack. Lifshitz emphasized the symbolic importance of restoring life to the kibbutz, stating the center was born "50 meters from my parents’ cactus garden, destroyed in the attack, and inside a burned children’s home."
Vardi highlighted the center’s mission to blend traditional peripheral industry with technological human capital, aiming to transform southern industry from a consumer of innovation into a hub of development and entrepreneurship. The center runs three main tracks: a multidisciplinary R&D team working closely with factories to develop automation and quality control solutions; a training campus offering programs like Forward Deployed Engineers (FDE) in AI; and a startup incubator that turns industrial and agricultural challenges into new ventures. Partners include Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, JNF Australia, Salesforce Israel, the Employment Authority, and the Weidor family.
President Herzog, addressing the ceremony, reflected on the sacred yet tragic soil of Nir Oz, calling it a place of rebirth and resilience. He praised the transformation of the kindergartens from sites of horror into centers of education, creativity, and growth, and noted the meaningful name "Bina BeLev" (Intelligence in the Heart), symbolizing the fusion of AI innovation with deep human emotion.
