Michael Belkine had a nearly 30-year career in intelligence and security in both in field and staff roles beginning in 1963 Israel. This led to his continuing interest in the theory and practice of intelligence discipline in national and business applications.
When he retired from public service in 1991, he moved to the private sector when he joined Shafran Ltd., a security consultancy to set up their CI operation. He managed their consulting and operational activities until 2005, when he organized his own private CI consultancy, Spendour, Ltd, where he worked until 2010 and then retired.
Michael was a founding member of the Israeli Competitive Intelligence Forum (ICIF) in 1992, and chaired it from 1996-2006. The organization was initiated by Ben Gilad who worked and resided in Israel at the time. It struggled initially as it was unclear how its role differed from that of the Israeli government intelligence services which were well established and widely known.
Michael was introduced to SCIP in 1992 and felt the ICIF needed true international recognition and common operating principles as an affiliate of the leading global organization, particularly in its ethical practices. An alliance partnership was developed that emphasized the ongoing independence of the international and national group regarding programs it supported primarily by maintaining an ongoing dialogue between the entities.
Michael expanded his volunteer role in CI when was elected to the SCIP Board of Directors in 2006. He was the sole international member of the Board and advocated for a Member Service Charter which would define the services members would receive from the global leadership body, which was eventually adopted, but ended shortly after he resigned from the Board. Michael became disappointed with the lack of recognition and respect that CI had gained in the business community as compared to the fully integrated and central role it had in national defense and security based on his extensive Israeli military experience. It was his hope that after he retired CI would eventually grow to become viewed as it had been in the military setting and offer valued strategic guidance to business executives as it had for so long been a practice with military decision makers.