Isaac Ben-Israel ( he, יצחק בן ישראל, born 26 July 1949) is an

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

military scientist Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mil ...

, general, politician and state official. He currently serves as the chairman of the Israeli Space Agency and the National Council for Research and Development, under the auspices of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space of Israel. He finished his service in the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

ranked General, serving as head of the military Administration for the Development of Weapons and the Technological Industry. Between 2010 and 2012 he served as chief

Cybernetics Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson m ...

adviser to PM Netanyahu, during which period he founded the National Cyber Bureau in the PM office and launched the National Cyber Initiative. Ben-Israel is now head of the Security Studies program in Tel Aviv University, where he also heads the annual international Cyber Security conference. Between 2007 and 2009 he served as a member of the Knesset for Kadima. Ben-Israel is one of Israel's top experts on Space, Cyber and technological related security. He holds a PhD in Philosophy and a BSc in Physics and Mathematics from Tel Aviv University. In 2020, he declared that Covid-19 would play itself out within seventy days, regardless of intervention levels.

Biography

Ben-Israel finished his studies at the

Herzliya Hebrew High School The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium ( he, הַגִּימְנַסְיָה הָעִבְרִית הֶרְצְלִיָּה, ''HaGymnasia HaIvrit Herzliya'', Also known as ''Gymnasia Herzliya''), originally known as HaGymnasia HaIvrit (lit. Hebrew High Scho ...

in 1967, and was soon enlisted into the

under the Academic Reserve program in which he completed B.SC. in mathematics and physics. During his military service he earned Ph.D. in philosophy from Tel-Aviv University in 1988. His last position in the IDF was as the head of the Analysis and Assessment Division of the Israeli Air Force

Air Intelligence Directorate The Israeli Air Intelligence Group ( he, להק מודיעין, Lahak Modi'in; also known as Lamdan, its Hebrew acronym) is a unit of the Israel Defense Forces Air Force. Like other IDF intelligence gathering bodies, it is professionally subordin ...

's Operations Research Branch. From 2000 to 2002, he was a member of the board of directors of Israel Aircraft Industries. He is also a member of the board of the Israel Corp.; the

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

advisory board of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries; the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies; the advisory council of the Technion's Neaman Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology; the academic council of Tel-Aviv Academic College of Engineering; the Interdisciplinary Center for Technological Analysis and forecasting (Tel-Aviv Univ.); and the National Committee for Information Society Technology. In 2003, he founded RAY-TOP (Technology Opportunities) Ltd., a Defense consultancy firm. In 2017, Ben-Israel was appointed to the

Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace The Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace was a multistakeholder Internet governance organization, dedicated to the creation of diplomatic norms of governmental non-aggression in cyberspace. It operated for three years, from 2017 t ...

, and served on the commission until its successful conclusion in 2019, participating in the drafting of its eight norms related to

non-aggression The non-aggression principle (NAP), also called the non-aggression axiom, is a concept in which aggression, defined as initiating or threatening any forceful interference (violating or breaching conduct) against either an individual, their propert ...

cyberspace Cyberspace is a concept describing a widespread interconnected digital technology. "The expression dates back from the first decade of the diffusion of the internet. It refers to the online world as a world 'apart', as distinct from everyday rea ...

Support for the Nautilus MTHEL

Ben-Israel has been a staunch supporter of —and by extension, critic of the

Israeli government The Cabinet of Israel (officially: he, ממשלת ישראל ''Memshelet Yisrael'') exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister. The composition of the governmen ...

's failure to continue to develop and implement after United States funding was withdrawn from— the Nautilus Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) to serve as a central component of the Israeli Air Defense Network against high-trajectory attacks, such as by Katyusha and Qassam rockets from Southern Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, respectively. He reiterated these arguments during the

2006 Israel-Gaza conflict 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

and the

2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...

, and called for increasing the military budget of Israel with a focus on advanced technology, including reviving the MTHEL program.

Politics

In the 2006 Knesset elections, he was placed 31st on Kadima's list, but missed out on a seat when the party won only 29 mandates. However, after

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...

resigned his seat in the Knesset to become President, Ben-Israel replaced him on 25 June 2007. He lost his seat in the February 2009 elections.

Awards

Ben-Israel has received many awards for his contributions to Israeli

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

and intelligence doctrine. He is the author of ''Dialogues on Science and Defense'' (1989) and ''The Philosophy of Intelligence'' (1999). *1972: '' The Israel Defense Prize'' — for developing a bombing system for the

F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...

*1976: ''The Israeli Air Force Prize'' — for developing a computerized control and supervision system *1984: ''The

Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

of the Intelligence Directorate Prize'' — "for "creative thought" *1989: ''Itzhak-Sade Prize for Military Literature'' — for his book ''Dialogues on Science and Defense'' *2001: ''The Israel Defense Prize'' — a second time, for developing weapon systems * 2002: ''The Singapore Defense Technology Distinguished Award'' — for "outstanding contribution to bilateral defense relations between Israel and Singapore for his contribution to Defense relations between Israel and Singapore"

References

External links