The Tavor is an assault rifle of Israeli origin. It was developed in the 1990's by Israel Military Industries to eventually replace the M16 in Israeli service, although development continued until the mid 2000's in order to refine the weapon. The Tavor is also known as the TAR-21, which stands for Tavor Assault Rifle of the 21st century. The name Tavor is derived from Mount Tavor in Israel. The Tavor is considered one of the most futuristic and capable assault rifles, although its bullpup design does not appeal to all.

The Tavor is a bullpup assault rifle, meaning that the magazine is placed behind the trigger unit, resulting in a shorter overall length. It has both futuristic and very conventional features. The Tavor uses a long stroke gas system and rotating bolt with the piston positioned above the barrel. The body is made out of high strength polymer and serves as a sort of exoskeleton to hold all the internal parts. Optics are the primary means of targeting and early versions had no iron sights. The fire selector is ambidextrous and a standard or oversized trigger guard is fitted. Several versions have been derived from the basic design, most of which only differ in barrel length and accessories. The Micro Tavor also has a different body and can be converted to fire the 9x19mm round.

The Tavor fires the 5.56x45mm NATO round from 30 round STANAG magazines. It is a select fire rifle with a cyclic rate of fire of 750 to 900 rpm. The effective range for the full size rifle is 400 meters, although targets at longer range may be engaged when magnifying optics are used. With the center of gravity close to the shoulder engaging targets nearby is faster, although aiming at distance is somewhat harder. The Micro Tavor can also be converted to fire the 9x19mm NATO round from Uzi magazines, in which case a silencer is often fitted.

The first and foremost user of the Tavor is the Israeli military. The Tavor is in use with various units and the Micro Tavor is destined to become the new standard issue assault rifle. The Tavor has also been exported to various nations in Asia and South America.