A civilian operations room in Sderot is providing 24/7 monitoring of dozens of remote farms and open areas, aiming to cut response times to incidents involving theft, vandalism, arson, and suspected infiltrations, according to the nonprofit behind the initiative.
In the materials, the founders describe farms that are far from police stations and other available forces, with limited personnel on site and long distances that can delay a response. They also describe recurring incidents, including property damage, theft, and harassment, that they say can wear down farm families over time.
The initiative was founded by Tamir Abukasis and Moshe Francis. Moledet’s materials describe Abukasis as having years of fieldwork with farmers through HaShomer HaChadash, and Francis as a security professional in the intelligence and security sector. The founders said they first connected through One Family, where Francis volunteers and Abukasis is involved as part of a bereaved family.
The founders say October 7 heightened exposure at farms because many farmers were called up for reserve duty, leaving some sites without their primary defenders. Abukasis said the operational gap is “synchronization and a complete real-time picture.”
Abukasis cited one example involving his friend Yonatan Margi, a cattle farmer near the separation fence in the Beit Shemesh area. He said Margi left his farm for a short period after Yom Kippur ended and returned to find intruders had entered, slaughtered a cow, and stolen calves.
Operationally, Moledet says it runs a centralized control room that receives alerts from farms, assesses anomalies, and relays information to security forces in real time. The materials say trained operators maintain a live situational picture across dozens of sites and help coordinate incidents as they unfold. The founders also describe an app that links farmers, volunteers, and local security teams, including alert distribution, distress buttons, incident management, and the mobilization of nearby responders.
Abukasis said the project was set up as a public-benefit nonprofit to keep costs low, with the aim of charging farmers only a minimal participation fee. The founders said the shift from concept to an operational system was enabled by David Fergon, a Canadian Jewish philanthropist, in memory of his late wife, Sarah Fergon.
Nonprofit operates across 68 farms
The nonprofit says it operates across about 68 farms in the West Bank, the Jordan Valley, and the Negev, with plans to expand in the Negev and the Galilee. Moledet said the Ministry for National Missions invested tens of millions of shekels in technology intended to integrate with the initiative, and said talks are underway with the Ministry of National Security to expand the model.
Moledet’s operations room was established at Mishkan Ella, which it says memorializes Ella Abukasis, killed after shielding her younger brother during a Qassam rocket attack 21 years ago. The founders said they placed photos of the Nahal Oz base tatzpitaniyot (Israel Defense Forces surveillance soldiers) at the entrance, after consultations with families and Yehoram Shai of Southern Command.
A senior military official in Central Command, quoted in the materials, called the project “exceptional value and importance,” describing farms as “frontier points” with high operational sensitivity. Board member Karen Bank-Moralis said the goal is to protect “those men and women who hold the land.”