Yitzhak Ben Yisrael
Encyclopedia
Professor Yitzhak Ben Yisrael is an Israel
i military scientist
, general
and politician, currently the chairman of the Israeli Space Agency
. He is the former head of the Administration for the Development of Weapons and the Technological Industry
, which he was appointed to in 1998, and at that point, elevated to the rank of Aluf
(Res.). Ben Yisrael is head of the Program for Defense Studies, the Curiel Center and the Tel Aviv
Workshop for Science Technology and Security, and a lecturer at the Cohen Institute for the History and Philosophy of Sciences and Ideas and at the School of Government and Policy at Tel Aviv University
. He holds several other positions. Between 2007 and 2009 he served as a member of the Knesset
for Kadima
. Today, Ben Yisrael is member of the International Board of Governors of the Ariel University Center of Samaria.
in 1967, and was soon enlisted into the IDF
as a prospective academic recruit. His last position in the IDF was as the head of the Analysis and Assessment Division of the Israeli Air Force
Air Intelligence Directorate
's Operations Research Branch. From 2000-2002, 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
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 conslutancy firm.
's failure to continue to develop and implement after US
funding was withdrawn from— the Nautilus Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser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 rocket
s from Southern Lebanon
and the Palestinian territories
, respectively. He reiterated these arguments during the 2006 Israel-Gaza conflict
and the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
, and called for increasing the military budget
of Israel with a focus on advanced technology, including reviving the MTHEL program.
's list, but missed out on a seat when the party won only 29 mandates. However, after Shimon Peres
resigned his seat in the Knesset to become President
, Ben Yisrael replaced him on 25 June 2007. He lost his seat in the February 2009 elections
.
doctrine
. He is the author of Dialogues on Science and Defense (1989) and The Philosophy of Intelligence (1999).
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i military scientist
Military science
Military science is the process of translating national defence policy to produce military capability by employing military scientists, including theorists, researchers, experimental scientists, applied scientists, designers, engineers, test technicians, and military personnel responsible for...
, general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
and politician, currently the chairman of the Israeli Space Agency
Israeli Space Agency
Israel Space Agency is a governmental body that coordinates all Israeli space research programs with scientific and commercial goals. It was established in 1983 and is currently headed by Aluf professor Yitzhak Ben Yisrael...
. He is the former head of the Administration for the Development of Weapons and the Technological Industry
Administration for the Development of Weapons and the Technological Industry
The Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure , abbreviated Maf'at , is a joint administrative body of the Israeli Ministry of Defense and Israel Defense Forces that coordinates between the Ministry of Defense, the IDF, the military industries, Israel Military...
, which he was appointed to in 1998, and at that point, elevated to the rank of Aluf
Aluf
Aluf is the term used for General and Admiral in the Israel Defense Forces . In addition to the Aluf rank itself, there are four other ranks which are derivatives of the word...
(Res.). Ben Yisrael is head of the Program for Defense Studies, the Curiel Center and the Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
Workshop for Science Technology and Security, and a lecturer at the Cohen Institute for the History and Philosophy of Sciences and Ideas and at the School of Government and Policy at Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
. He holds several other positions. Between 2007 and 2009 he served as a member of the Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
for Kadima
Kadima
Kadima is a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely to support the issue of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians...
. Today, Ben Yisrael is member of the International Board of Governors of the Ariel University Center of Samaria.
Biography
Ben Yisrael finished his studies at the Herzliya Hebrew High SchoolHerzliya Hebrew High School
The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium , originally known as HaGymnasia HaIvrit is a historic high school in Tel Aviv, Israel.-History:...
in 1967, and was soon enlisted into the IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
as a prospective academic recruit. His last position in the IDF was as the head of the Analysis and Assessment Division of the Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
Air Intelligence Directorate
Air Intelligence Directorate
The Israeli Air Intelligence Group is a unit of the Israel Defense Forces Air Force. Like other IDF intelligence gathering bodies, it is professionally subordinate to the IDF's Intelligence Directorate....
's Operations Research Branch. From 2000-2002, he was a member of the board of directors of Israel Aircraft Industries
Israel Aircraft Industries
Israel Aerospace Industries or IAI is Israel's prime aerospace and aviation manufacturer, producing aerial systems for both military and civilian usage. It has 16,000 employees as of 2007...
. He is also a member of the board of the Israel Corp.; the research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
advisory board of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. , is an international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Petah Tikva, Israel. It specializes in generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients...
; 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 conslutancy firm.
Support for the Nautilus MTHEL
Ben Yisrael has been a staunch supporter of —and by extension, critic of the Israeli governmentCabinet of Israel
The Cabinet of Israel is a formal body composed of government officials called ministers, chosen and led by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister must appoint members based on the distribution of votes to political parties during legislative elections, and its composition must be approved by a...
's failure to continue to develop and implement after US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
funding was withdrawn from— the Nautilus Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser
Tactical High Energy Laser
The Tactical High-Energy Laser, or THEL, is a laser developed for military use, also known as the Nautilus laser system. The mobile version is the Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser, or MTHEL.- Demonstrator :...
(MTHEL) to serve as a central component of the Israeli Air Defense Network
Israeli Air Defense Network
The Israeli Air Defense Command is the Israel Defense Forces unit responsible for the surface front of Israel's air defense, complementing the air defense provided by Israeli Air Force squadrons...
against high-trajectory attacks, such as by Katyusha and Qassam rocket
Qassam rocket
The Qassam rocket is a simple steel artillery rocket developed and deployed by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas. Three models have been produced and used between 2001 and 2011....
s from Southern Lebanon
Southern Lebanon
Southern Lebanon is the geographical area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. These two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s...
and the Palestinian territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
, respectively. He reiterated these arguments during the 2006 Israel-Gaza conflict
2006 Israel-Gaza conflict
The 2006 Israel–Gaza conflict refers to the series of battles between Palestinian militants and the Israel Defense Forces . Large-scale conventional warfare beyond the peripheries of the Gaza Strip began when Israel launched Operation Summer Rains , the codename for an IDF military operation in the...
and the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War #Other uses|Tammūz]]) and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War , was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. The principal parties were Hezbollah...
, and called for increasing the military budget
Military budget
A military budget of an entity, most often a nation or a state, is the budget and financial resources dedicated to raising and maintaining armed forces for that entity. Military budgets reflect how much an entity perceives the likelihood of threats against it, or the amount of aggression it wishes...
of Israel with a focus on advanced technology, including reviving the MTHEL program.
Politics
In the 2006 Knesset elections, he was placed 31st on KadimaKadima
Kadima is a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely to support the issue of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians...
's list, but missed out on a seat when the party won only 29 mandates. However, after Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
resigned his seat in the Knesset to become President
President of Israel
The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...
, Ben Yisrael replaced him on 25 June 2007. He lost his seat in the February 2009 elections
Israeli legislative election, 2009
Elections for the 18th Knesset were held in Israel on 10 February 2009. These elections became necessary due to the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the Kadima party, and the failure of his successor, Tzipi Livni, to form a coalition government...
.
Awards
Ben Yisrael has received numerous awards for his contributions to Israeli defense and intelligenceIsraeli Intelligence Community
The Israeli Intelligence Community is the designation given to the complex of organizations responsible for intelligence collection, dissemination, and research for the State of Israel...
doctrine
Military doctrine
Military doctrine is the concise expression of how military forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements.It is a guide to action, not hard and fast rules. Doctrine provides a common frame of reference across the military...
. 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 IIF-4 Phantom IIThe McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable,...
- 1976: The Israeli Air Force Prize — for developing a computerized control and supervision system
- 1984: The Head of the Intelligence DirectorateAman (IDF)The Directorate of Military Intelligence is Israel's central, overarching military intelligence, of the Israel Defense Forces. Aman was created in 1950, when the Intelligence Department was spun off from the IDF's General Staff ; the Intelligence Department itself was composed largely of former...
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 DefenseMinistry of Defence (Singapore)The Ministry of Defence is a ministry of the Government of Singapore entrusted with overseeing the national defence needs of the Republic of Singapore. It is the headquarters of the Singapore Armed Forces...
Technology Distinguished Award — for "outstanding contribution to bilateral defense relations between Israel and Singapore for his contribution to Defense relations between Israel and SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
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