Col. (Res.) Dr. Ronen Itsik is the former commander of the Reserve Armored Brigade (Harel), and the author of the book, "Behind the Armor"

Itsik paved his military career by climbing the ranks of the IDF Armored Corps, among others, as commander of the 77th Battalion in the 7th Armored Brigade, and commander of the Harel 10 reserves Armored Brigade, which he continued to command during his reserves service.

During his command, the brigade was awarded the Chief of Military Staff’s Award for outstanding performance. In his last permanent service position, Col. Itsik served as chief of staff over the Pillar of Fire (“Amud HaEsh”) division – a Northern Command division – and during Operation Protective Edge he served in reserve duty as part of the 7th Armored Brigade.

After completing his service with the IDF, Col. Itsik became a research fellow at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, as well as a lecturer on management sciences at the  Academon Intellect College. Later he became a civics and history teacher at the Gaon Ha’yarden high school in Northern Israel, and the director of the Etgarim educational program for the leadership and empowerment of teachers.

Col. Itsik holds a B.A. in economics with honors from the College of Management, and an M.A. from the University of Haifa in Political Science in the field of national security. As part of his doctoral studies, Col. Itsik researched how regular military service impacts social perceptions among the serving youth.

Itsik serves as a senior researcher in the IDSF security research department, specializing in military-social relations.

Academic Degrees:

B.A. in economics from the College of Management; M.A. in political science from the University of Haifa; PhD studies in social sciences from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań