Itsik Bilia is a Ph.D. candidate at the School of Political Sciences, University of Haifa. His doctoral dissertation, titled “The Strategic Equation of Dependence”, supervised by Prof. Shaul Chorev and Dr. Carmela Lutmar, develops a theoretical explanation for why leading arms-importing states sustain high levels of dependence on a primary arms supplier despite the political leverage such dependence affords the supplier. He holds an M.A. (summa cum laude) in International Relations from the National Security and Maritime Strategy Program at the University of Haifa (2021). His master's thesis examined the connection between special bilateral relations and the provision of strategic weapons systems through a comparative analysis of the transfer of Dolphin-class submarines from Germany to Israel and the provision of Polaris and Trident nuclear missile systems from the United States to the United Kingdom. Since 2025, he has served as editor of the quarterly journal “Yam Kachol” (Blue Sea), published by the Maritime Policy and Strategy Institute. He holds a B.Sc. in Software Engineering (cum laude) and has 15 years of experience in the Israeli high-tech industry.
