Military Audit: Empathy

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Empathy - Military Domain Audit

Target: Empathy (empathy.com / Empathy Technologies) - Israeli/US bereavement and grief-support fintech platform Audit phase: Military Audit Founders/Principals reviewed: Ron Gura (CEO/co-founder), Yonatan Bergman (CTO/co-founder), Eyal Gura, Shai Wininger, Aviad “Avi” Eyal (Entrée Capital)

Direct Defence Contracting & Procurement

Empathy is a consumer/enterprise bereavement-support software platform headquartered across New York and Tel Aviv, founded in 2021 by Ron Gura and Yonatan Bergman ¹²³. No public evidence identified of any contract, tender, framework agreement, or memorandum of understanding between Empathy and the Israeli Ministry of Defense, the IDF, the Israel Prison Service, the Israel Border Police, or any other Israeli state security body. No public evidence identified of Empathy appearing in SIBAT (Israeli defence export authority) directories or in Israeli defence procurement registries. No public evidence identified of press or trade-press reporting describing any defence-sector cooperation involving Empathy; all identified press coverage concerns its bereavement-tech product launches and funding rounds ⁴⁵⁶.

Dual-Use Products & Tactical Variants

Empathy’s core product is a digital assistant and B2B2C platform that helps bereaved families manage the practical and administrative burdens following a death, distributed to consumers directly and through insurer and employer partners ⁴⁵⁶. No public evidence identified of any ruggedised, tactical, mil-spec, or defence-grade variant of Empathy’s software or any related product line. The company’s product category - bereavement and administrative-support software - has no identified dual-use or military application in any source reviewed. No public evidence identified of export licence applications, end-user certificates, or export-control reviews tied to Israeli defence or security end-users in connection with Empathy’s technology.

Heavy Machinery, Construction & Infrastructure

This domain is not applicable to Empathy’s business model, which is software and fintech services with no identified physical construction, machinery, or vehicle manufacturing activity ⁴⁵. No public evidence identified of equipment, vehicles, or machinery linked to Empathy in Israeli settlements, the separation barrier, or military installations. No public evidence identified of any construction or engineering contract of any kind involving Empathy.

Supply Chain Integration with Defence Primes

No public evidence identified of any supply relationship - direct or indirect - between Empathy and Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, or Elbit Land (formerly Israel Military Industries). General industry review confirms these primes maintain extensive, well-documented supply and contracting activity with the Israeli Ministry of Defense and other counterparties, but no connection to Empathy was found in any reviewed source ⁷. No public evidence identified of joint development, co-production, or technology-transfer arrangements between Empathy and any defence prime.

Logistical Sustainment & Base Services

Empathy’s operating model is software distribution to consumers, employers, and insurance partners, not physical logistics ⁴⁸. No public evidence identified of Empathy providing catering, transport, fuel, waste management, facilities maintenance, telecommunications, or other support services to IDF bases, training facilities, or detention centres, whether in the West Bank, Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, the Negev, or elsewhere. No public evidence identified of shipping, freight, or port-handling contracts serving Israeli military cargo or arms shipments involving Empathy.

Munitions, Weapons Systems & Strategic Platforms

No public evidence identified of any role by Empathy - as manufacturer, integrator, or component supplier - in small arms, artillery, armoured vehicles, drones, naval vessels, missile-defence systems (Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow), fighter aircraft, tanks, warships, or ballistic missile systems. No public evidence identified of any munitions, ordnance, propellant, or warhead-component supply activity connected to Empathy.

Export Licensing, Regulatory & Legal History

No public evidence identified of any export licence grant, denial, suspension, or revocation involving Empathy and Israeli military or security end-users, in any jurisdiction. No public evidence identified of sanctions or arms-embargo enforcement actions involving Empathy. No public evidence identified of court proceedings or judicial review concerning Empathy’s defence-sector activity. As a privately held company, Empathy has no SEC 10-K, 20-F, or proxy filings available to check for government-contract or Israeli-subsidiary disclosures.

Civil Society Scrutiny & Documented Investigations

Empathy was checked against the OHCHR database of business enterprises operating in connection with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, maintained pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 31/36 and 53/25 and most recently updated in September 2025 to cover 158 enterprises ⁹¹⁰. No public evidence identified of Empathy, Ron Gura, or Yonatan Bergman in that database. Secondary reporting on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s report “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide” (A/HRC/59/23, 2 July 2025), which names over 60 companies described as supporting Israel’s occupation, likewise contains no reference to Empathy ¹¹¹². No public evidence identified of Empathy in PAX’s “The Companies Arming Israel and Their Financiers” (June 2024) ¹³, in AFSC Investigate’s occupation-industry screens ¹⁴, in Al-Haq’s “Stop Arming Israel” advocacy materials ¹⁵, or in Who Profits Research Center’s company profiles, whose active Israel/OPT-focused methodology was confirmed via its Elbit Systems profile with no equivalent Empathy entry located ⁷. No public evidence identified of any organised boycott, divestment, or exclusion campaign targeting Empathy for defence-sector activity, and no corporate statement, policy change, or end-use monitoring commitment by Empathy responsive to civil-society pressure on defence supply chains was identified, as no such pressure or underlying allegation was found.

Controlling principals. No public evidence identified of defence-board roles, defence-industry directorships, FIDF or reservist-fund donations, equity holdings in Israeli defence primes, or public co-belligerency statements by Ron Gura, Yonatan Bergman, or named investor/board figures Eyal Gura, Shai Wininger, or Aviad “Avi” Eyal of Entrée Capital ^16171819. Avi Eyal’s public investment profile centres on general technology venture investing, including monday.com, Riskified, Coupang, PillPack, and Deliveroo, with no defence-sector investment or affiliation identified in available profiles ¹⁷¹⁸; his listed appearance as a speaker at “DefenseTech Week” 2025 was noted as a data point without further corroborating detail on the nature of any defence-sector involvement, and is treated here as an unresolved, unsubstantiated lead rather than a finding ¹⁶.

Group and investor attribution. Empathy’s investor base includes General Catalyst, Aleph, Entrée Capital, Index Ventures, and Adams Street Partners, together with strategic insurance-sector investors MetLife, New York Life, MassMutual Ventures, Securian, and Sumitomo ²⁰²¹⁸. No parent, sibling, or subsidiary entity with operational integration into Empathy was identified beyond this standard corporate/investor structure. No public evidence identified of defence-sector activity by these investors specifically attributable to or channelled through Empathy. A separate, unrelated Israeli-registered entity, “The Empathy Project Ltd,” was identified in a company registry search but shows no connection to the bereavement-tech company and no defence-sector signal in available records ²².

Constructive notice and settlement nexus. No public evidence identified of any underlying military-adjacent activity by Empathy, before or after the 19 July 2024 ICJ Advisory Opinion or the November 2024 ICC arrest warrants, against which continuation of such activity could be assessed. No public evidence identified of Empathy or any licensee, franchisee, or subsidiary engaged in military-adjacent supply, construction, demolition, or logistics activity in or to West Bank (including East Jerusalem) or Golan Heights settlements.

End Notes