Dr. Yizhaq (Itsik) Benbenisty is an organizational psychologist and civil–military scholar with over twenty years’ experience in leadership research and development. He is currently a teaching fellow at the University of Haifa and Sapir College, following a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Information Systems, University of Haifa. He holds a PhD (2019) that explored leaders’ sense-giving strategies under paradoxical policies, an MA in Cognitive Psychology, and a BA in Behavioral Sciences from Ben-Gurion University.
From 2004 to 2019 he served as a senior organizational consultant in the Israel Defense Forces, combining field and research roles that included heading military psychology studies and designing large-scale leadership programmes. In 2020 he founded B.I. Group, a consultancy specializing in leadership, entrepreneurship, and organizational climate, and since 2021 he has also been a research associate at the IDF Command and Staff College.
Dr. Benbenisty’s work appears in leading journals such as the Journal of Organizational Behavior, Military Psychology, and the Journal of Strategic Studies, as well as in edited volumes on military leadership. His expertise spans qualitative and quantitative methods, advanced statistics, survey design, group facilitation, and large-scale project management, making him a sought-after lecturer and advisor. He speaks Hebrew and English fluently.
Benbenisty, Y., & Luria, G. (2021). A time to act and a time for restraint: Everyday sense-giving in the context of paradox. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 42(8), 1005–1022. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2537 Wiley Online Library
Benbenisty, Y., & Luria, G. (2021). The restrained unit: A case study on everyday sense-giving to a use-of-force policy calling for restraint. Military Psychology, 33(4), 264–276. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2021.1906076 PMC
Ben-Shalom, U., & Benbenisty, Y. (2019). ‘A time of war’: Contextual and organizational dimensions in the construction of combat motivation in the IDF. Journal of Strategic Studies, 42(3–4), 371–394. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2017.1360772 Taylor & Francis Online
Ben-Shalom, U., & Benbenisty, Y. (2016). Coping styles and combat motivation during operations: An IDF case study. Armed Forces & Society, 42(4), 655–674. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X16632316 SAGE Journals
Ben-Shalom, U., & Benbenisty, Y. (2015). Characteristics of sense-making in combat: Preliminary research in the IDF Ground Forces. Social Issues in Israel, 20, 108–130.
Benbenisty, Y., Hadar, I., Luria, G., & Spoletini, P. (2021). Privacy as first-class requirements in software development: A socio-technical approach. In Proceedings of the 36th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (pp. 1363–1367). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ASE51524.2021.9678872 researchgate.net
| Year | Conference | Location | Presentation Title | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 17th Biennial Conference of ERGOMAS | Stockholm, Sweden | Warfare's Psychological Front: Lessons from the IDF's Extended Conflict Post 7 Oct | Speaker |
| 2022 | Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Leadership Symposium | Mykonos, Greece | How do leaders engage in sense-giving to explain a complex context? A case study for everyday sense-giving | Speaker |
| 2020 | IOBC Conference | Tel-Aviv, Israel | A time to act and a time for restraint: Linking sense-giving strategies to paradoxical policy with authentic leadership and organizational outcomes | Speaker |
| 2018 | 3rd Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Leadership Symposium | Chania, Greece | Authentic leadership in a paradoxical environment – The use of sense-giving to explain contradictions | Speaker |
| 2016 | Emonet X | Rome, Italy | Climate for restraint: Emergence and emotional responses | Speaker |
| 2015 | 13th Biennial Conference of ERGOMAS | Ra’anana, Israel | Managing sense-making: Sense-breaking and sense-giving in military units during policing missions | Speaker |
| 2013 | Kineret Conference for Civil/Military Researches | Kineret College, Israel | Climate of restraint in the use of force in units performing policing missions | Speaker |
| 2006 | 3rd International Military Psychology Conference “War and the Mind” | Ramat HaSharon, Israel | Combat motivation during Operation Cast Lead | Speaker |