Eviatar Matania (; born June 11, 1966) was the founder and Head of the Israel National Cyber Bureau (January 2012) and starting February 2015 also the founder and first Director General of the Israel National Cyber Directorate, that consists of both the National Cyber Bureau and the National Cyber Security Authority, a tenure he concluded in January 2018.Yosi Hatoni, “The Government Has Authorized Appointing Prof. Eviatar Matania as Head of the National Cyber Bureau”, People and Computers, December 13, 2011CyberWeekAmir Rapaport, “The Prime Minister Bids Farewell to the Head of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate: “Israel is among the Five Leading Nations””, Israel Defense, January 5, 2018 Currently, Matania is a professor at the School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs at Tel Aviv University, where he also serves as the head of the MA Security Studies Program, and holds an adjunct professorship at Oxford University’s School of Government.Oxford University Matania also holds consultancy roles in the fields of cyber, technological policies and strategies, and national security, and is the joint-head of the Smart Systems Initiative.
Early life and education Eviatar Matania was born in Haifa, Israel on June 11, 1966. At age seven Matania lost his elder brother, Ehud, during the Yom-Kippur War (the 1973 war), an event he credits for driving him to seek a meaningful service in the Israeli Defense Forces.Yariv Peleg, "There is something that unites bereaved siblings", Mako, September 12, 2013 He attended HaRe'ali high school in Haifa. Matania is a graduate of the elite military-academic program Talpiot. He holds a B.Sc. in physics and mathematics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Cum Laude), a M.Sc in Mathematics from Tel Aviv University (Cum Laude), with a minor in game theory, and a PhD in judgement and decision-making from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.The Prime Minister’s Office
Early career Enlisting in 1984 to the Israeli Defense Forces, Matania was recruited to the elite military-academic program Talpiot, and then served in various branches of the IDF and the Israeli Ministry of Defense, where he held R&D and command positions. After completing his military service in 1996, Matania took-up analysis and consulting roles within Israel’s hi-tech industry. During 1997-1999 he worked for Pitango Venture Capital as a senior analyst and investment manager.Amir Rapaport, “Eviatar Matania”, Makor Rishon, September 2016 In 2002, Matania returned to active service in Israel’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure (“Maf'at”) to serve as Director of Technological Human Capital in both the Talpiot and Psagot programs. In this role, Matania created the Israeli Defense Forces’ elite intelligence program Havatzalot and the Nahshon program. During this period, Matania received his PhD in Judgement and Decision-Making from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was a research associate at the Yuval Ne'eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security in Tel Aviv University and a visiting lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Establishing the Israel National Cyber Bureau Following the Israeli governmental resolution on August 7, 2011, to establish a National Cyber Bureau to develop a comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy for Israel, to lead the nation’s overall cyber policy and to develop and advance the national cyber ecosystem, technological capacity and economic growth, Matania was selected to found and head this bureau, starting January 2012.Prime Minister’s Office During his tenure, Matania led the development of the Israeli national cyber security strategy and its implementation,Damian Paletta, “Israeli Cybersecurity Chief Focused on Future Threats", The Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2015 cybersecurity capacity building, the transformation of cybersecurity into an economic growth engine,Gil Press, “6 Reasons Israel Became A Cybersecurity Powerhouse Leading The $82 Billion Industry", Forbes, July 18, 2017Jason Gewirtz, “Inside the IDF’s Super-Secret Elite Brain Trust”, TheTower, April 2016 and the establishment of an architecture for the cooperation and coordination between the United States and Israel on cybersecurity issues.Tim Starks, “The surprising fight in Congress over turning NIST into a cyber auditor", Politico, June 27, 2017 The strategy dealt with differentiating efforts in cyberspace into three layers: robustness, resilience and national defense.Barbara Opall-Rome, “Interview: Eviatar Matania, Head of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate", DefenseNews, July 11, 2016 Robustness is the fundamental layer, providing a “capacity to repel and contain cyber threats” and is executed in Israel by private organizations with governmental incentives and regulation.Wharton Knowledge, “War of the Worms: Cyber-attacks Pose Increasing Danger to Israeli Security", December 06, 2012 Resilience is an event-driven layer and deals with the “ability to recover from or easily adjust to misfortune or change”, executed in Israel by both private and governmental entities. Finally, national defense is aimed at disrupting “cyber attacks by focusing on the human factor behind them through national operational defense capabilities” mustered by the government.Shoshanna Solomon, “Staying humble is key to staying safe, says Israel’s cyber chief”, The Times of Israel, July 2, 2017
Director General of Israel National Cyber Directorate Following the Israeli Government resolution of 2015 to establish a sister entity to the Cyber Bureau – The National Cyber Security Authority (NCSA), as part of a single directorate,Amir Cahane, “The new Israeli Cyber Law draft bill – a preliminary overview”, Cyber Security Research Center – Cyber Law Program, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, July 1, 2018 Matania was appointed as the first Director General of the new directorate.Raphael Kahan, “Netanyahu Names Israel’s New National Cybersecurity Chief”, Calcalist Tech, December 31, 2017 In this capacity, he continued to head the Cyber Bureau, was charged with the preparations for the establishment of the new Cyber Authority (established in 2016), and was responsible for approving the NCSA’s annual work plans and budgets. During Matania's tenure, he facilitated the establishment of numerous cyber research centers in prominent Israeli universities, such as the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center at Tel Aviv University, the Federmann Cyber Security Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the BGU Cyber Security Research Center at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, among others. Toward the end of his tenure, the two units of the National Cyber Directorate – the bureau and the authority – were merged into one unified entity.Raphael Kahan, “Israel to Merge Two National Cybersecurity Entities”, Calcalist Tech, December 17, 2017
Later career On December 31, 2017, Matania completed his six-year term as Israel's Cyber Director and transitioned to academia and strategic consultancy. Matania is a professor at the School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs at Tel Aviv University, where he conducts research in the fields of technological policies, cyber and security, areas in which he also functions as a strategic consultant. As part of his professorship, he was appointed the head of Tel Aviv University's MA program in Security Studies. Matania is also a member of the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center, a visiting professor at Oxford University,Tel-Aviv University Professor Page and the joint-head of the "Smart Systems Initiative", a task force appointed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to formulate Israel's strategy on advanced computing technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and quantum computing.Yehuda Konfortes, “Yitzhak Ben-Israel and Eviatar Matania Will Lead the Computing Task Force Established By Netanyahu”, People and Computers, June 4, 2018Amit Rapaport, “Israel is on the starting line in artificial intelligence”, Makor Rishon, October 2, 2018
In 2021 Matania’s book, “Cybermania“ was published (co-written with Amir Rapaport). “Cybermania” describes the story of the global cyber revolution and the leading role Israel has in shaping the cyber eco system.
Publications
Books
Matania, E., and Rapaport, A. (2021). CYBERMANIA: How Israel Became a Global Powerhouse in the Domain That is Revolutionizing the Future of Humanity. Kfar Saba, Israel: Cybertech-Arrowmedia. Matania, E. (2013). A Diary of Atonement. Tel Aviv, Israel: Eked. [In Hebrew]
Selection of Academic Articles
Security and Strategy
Matania, E., Podhorzer, O., and Daniel, N. (2022). The Elusive Presence of Technology in Israel’s Strategic Security Thinking. Strategic Assessment, 25(3), 25-44. Matania, E, (2022). Behind Mandatory Service in Israel: From the Rationale of the Militia to the Rationale of Military-Technological Superiority. Strategic Assessment, 25(2), 3-23. Matania, E., and Seri-Levy, E. (2021). By Sling and by Stone: A Strategy of Technological Reduction. Strategic Assessment, 24(2), 3-18.
Security and Cyber
Sommer, U., Matania, M., and Hassid, N. (2023) "The rise of companies in the cyber era and the pursuant shift in national security," Political Science, 75:2, 140-164, doi:10.1080/00323187.2023.2278499 Matania, E., and Sommer, U. (2023). "Tech titans, cyber commons and the war in Ukraine: An incipient shift in international relations." International Relations (In print). doi:10.1177/00471178231211500 Matania, E. and Yoffe, L., 2022. "Some Things the Giant Could Learn from the Small: Unlearned Cyber Lessons for the US from Israel." The Cyber Defense Review, 7(1), pp.101-110. Matania, E., and Tal-Shir, E. (2020). "Continuous terrain remodeling: gaining the upper hand in cyber defence." Journal of Cyber Policy, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 285-301. doi:10.1080/23738871.2020.1778761 Paikowsky, D., and Matania, E. (2019). "Influence Operations in Cyber: Characteristics and Insights." In INSS Memorandum No. 197, The Cognitive Campaign: Strategic and Intelligence Perspectives, Y. Kupperwasser and D. Siman-Tov (Eds.), pp. 99-112. Matania, E., Yoffe, L., and Goldstein, T. (2017). "Structuring the national cyber defence: In evolution towards a Central Cyber Authority." Journal of Cyber Policy, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 16-25. doi:10.1080/23738871.2017.1299193 Matania, E., Yoffe, L., and Mashkautsan, M. (2016). "A Three-Layer Framework for a Comprehensive National Cyber-security Strategy." Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 77-84. doi:10.1353/gia.2016.0038
Tech Policy
Ben-Israel, I., Matania, E., and Friedman, L. (2020). "Harnessing Innovation: Israeli Perspectives on AI Ethics and Governance." In Towards Regulation of AI Systems, CAHAI Secretariat (Ed.), pp.120-147. Avni, T., and Matania, E. (2020, September 18). "The AI landscape is shifting from ‘data’ to ‘knowledge.’ Here’s why that matters." The Next Web.
References