Avraham "Avi" Gabbay (; born 22 February 1967) is an Israeli businessman and politician. He was CEO of the telecommunications company

Bezeq Bezeq () is an Israeli telecommunications company. Bezeq and its subsidiaries offer a range of telecom services, including fixed-line, mobile telephony, high-speed Internet, transmission, and pay TV (via Yes (Israel), Yes). The company is tra ...

from 2007 to 2013, then entered politics. He served as Minister of Environmental Protection between 2015 and 2016 as a member of the Kulanu party, before being elected leader of the

Israeli Labor Party The Israeli Labor Party (), commonly known in Israel as HaAvoda (), was a Social democracy, social democratic political party in Israel. The party was established in 1968 by a merger of Mapai, Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi (political party), Rafi. Unt ...

in 2017. He was elected to the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

in April 2019, but resigned as leader shortly afterwards. He did not run in the September 2019 elections. After leaving politics, Gabbay returned to the business world. He is currently the CEO of Partner.

Early life and career

Gabbay was born in the Baka neighbourhood of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, the seventh of eight children born to Moïse and Sara Gabbay, Jewish immigrants from

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

originally from

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

. His father worked for

, and in his youth he would also work at his father's company during his vacations. He studied at the Geulim primary school and attended high school at the Gymnasia Rehavia. After graduating from high school, he did his national service in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

in the Intelligence Corps, reaching the rank of Lieutenant. After leaving the army, he completed a BA in economics and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. Gabbay began his career by working for the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

for four and a half years.

Business career

In 1998 he joined

as an assistant to CEO Ami Harel. Soon afterwards, he was appointed Vice President of Human Resources, and shortly after that, became the Vice President of Economics and Regulation. In 2003, he was appointed CEO of Bezeq International. In 2007, after Bezeq CEO Yaakov Gelbard was forced to resign, Gabbay was appointed CEO of Bezeq. He served in this position until he left the company in 2013.Avi Gabbay, a Business Exec With Little Political Experience, Just Won Israel's Labor Party Primary and Hopes to Replace Netanyahu
Haaretz, 11 July 2017 During his 14 years of working with Bezeq, Gabbay became wealthy, and is thought to have earned about 50 million shekels ($14.1 million). Shortly before entering politics, he tried and failed to buy control of

El Al EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. (), trading as EL AL (, "Upwards", "To the Skies", or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ) is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948, the airline has grown to serve ...

, Israel's national airline. In January 2020, Gabbay become CEO of telecommunications company Cellcom.

Political career

Kulanu Party

Prior to the 2015 Knesset elections he was amongst the founders of the new Kulanu party. Despite not being elected to the

, he was appointed Minister of Environmental Protection in the Netanyanu government. On 27 May 2016, he submitted his resignation from the government in protest at the appointment of

Avigdor Lieberman Avigdor Lieberman (, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician who served as Ministry of Finance (Israel), Minister of Finance between 2021 and 2022, having previously served twice as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to ...

as Minister of Defense and the coalition's shift to the right.Israel’s Labour party gambles on Avi Gabbay
The Economist, 12 July 2017

Labor Party

On 29 December 2016 Gabbay announced he would join the

, and on 4 March 2017 announced he would run for the Labor Party leadership in the intra-party election for the leadership of the Israeli Labor Party, held in July 2017. The announcement was unusual because he was not a sitting

member at the time. In the first round

Amir Peretz Amir Peretz (; born 9 March 1952) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party. A Knesset member almost continuously from 1988 to 2021, he has served as Ministry of Defense (Israel), ...

came first with 32.7% and Gabbay came second with 27.08%; In the second round on 10 July Gabbay won with 52.4% of the vote. Since Gabbay was not a Knesset member, he led the party from outside of the Knesset. In addition, usually the head of the largest opposition party in the Knesset gets the official title of

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

. Instead Issac Herzog, the outgoing leader of the Labor Party, retained the title of Leader of the Opposition in the Knesset. Following Herzog's resignation in July 2018,

Tzipi Livni Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni (, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), foreign mini ...

took over the post and following the dissolution of the Zionist Union, former Labor chief Shelly Yachimovich succeeded her. On 1 January 2019 Gabbay unilaterally announced the dissolution of the Zionist Union and the cessation of partnership with Hatnuah. In January 2019 his autobiography ''Hakol Efshari'' ("Everything is Possible") was published.

Political positions

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

In his political plan, published during the 2017 Labor leadership primaries,The political plan
Avi Gabbay Gabbay expressed support for a

two-state solution The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the esta ...

, with the

Palestinian state Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, collectively known as th ...

being

demilitarized A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between states, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or boundary ...

and the settlement blocs and Jordan Valley remaining under Israeli control. The Arab neighborhoods in

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...

would become Area B.

Palestinian refugees Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country, village or house over the course of the 1948 Palestine war and during the 1967 Six-Day War. Most Palestinian refug ...

would receive compensation. The bilateral agreement with the Palestinians would be part of a regional agreement, with the aim of strengthening the moderate

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

axis vis-à-vis

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and the

Shiite Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

axis. The IDF would be deployed along the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

until the conflict is resolved, maintaining Israeli freedom of action in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. Construction in the settlements outside the main blocs must be frozen, in order to channel the money so that it will priorities the periphery and settlement blocs, not isolated settlements ("

Dimona Dimona (, ) is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south-east of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arabah, Arava valley in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel. In , its population was . The Shimon Pere ...

and not Amona"). In October 2017, during a television interview, he stated that there was no need to evacuate settlements as part of an agreement. Later, he clarified that he was committed to the two-state solution and the distinction between settlement blocs and isolated settlements, in which construction must be stopped, but that there is no need to draw the borders of future negotiations and its recipe at this stage, including an immediate evacuation of all settlements and an undertaking to evacuate as a starting point for talks, and that any solution that will lead to an agreement should be examined. Following the President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's declaration of recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Gabbay was recorded in an interview saying that "undivided Jerusalem" is more important than a political settlement with the Palestinians. However, about six months earlier he explained that "undivided Jerusalem" did not include the Arab neighborhoods on the suburbs of Jerusalem. In January 2018, he declared that if the negotiations with the Palestinians will fail, a unilateral disengagement should be carried out, and that such a plan does not necessarily require the evacuation of settlements.

Economy

According to the social-economic plan he published during the 2017 Labor leadership primaries, Gabbay supports an increase in expenditure on social benefits and services along with

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...

efficiency measures. He supports the reduction of inequality between central Israel and the periphery, and between

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

in the education system. He opposes teachers in the public school system being employed by third-party labor contractors. According to the plan, he supports the public health system and a complete separation with private healthcare, instead favoring expanding public health spending to the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

average. According to Gabbay,

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

can be a social tool that reduces inequality and contributes to social mobility, and he supports additional investment of NIS 100 billion in public transport over a decade, and supports public transportation over private in infrastructure and accessibility. Gabbay supports the expansion of the social networks protecting all employees, and is in favor of linking wages to the

Consumer Price Index A consumer price index (CPI) is a statistical estimate of the level of prices of goods and services bought for consumption purposes by households. It is calculated as the weighted average price of a market basket of Goods, consumer goods and ...

. He also favors linking wages of soldiers serving in combat units to the

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

. According to his plan, an equitable

taxation system A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax c ...

must be created in order to deal with the trends of inequality and deep gaps in Israeli society; in order to reduce the

cost of living The cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living for an individual or a household. Changes in the cost of living over time can be measured in a cost-of-living index. Cost of living calculations are also used to compare t ...

in Israel, he proposed that there should be an increase in market competition, a reduction in

bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

and competition among

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

agencies should be created. In order to cope with the increase in housing prices in Israel, Gabbay proposes building 300,000 housing units within five years, adopting models of

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median, as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on ...

and changing the planning process in order to shorten the time of construction of apartments.

Religion and state

Gabbay stated support for public transportation on

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

, as well as allowing supermarkets and hang-out places to remain open on Shabbat,

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

conversions,

Civil marriage A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular. History Countries maintaining a popul ...

, the Western Wall compromise, and against the "Hadata" (הדתה, "religionization") of schools by the activities of the various associations (''Amutot'') On the issue of enlisting Ultra orthodox Haredim, on the other hand, he declared that this was unrealistic.

Education

Gabbay called for reform in the education system in which all streams of education for each sector will be united into one educational stream.

LGBT rights

Gabbay expressed support for LGBT rights on several occasions, and introduced a legislative package of 24 laws on LGBT rights

Holocaust

In February 2018 the Polish Prime Minister

Mateusz Morawiecki Mateusz Jakub Morawiecki (; born 20 June 1968) is a Polish economist, historian and politician who served as the prime minister of Poland between 2017 and 2023. A member of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, he previously served in the Cabinet of ...

stated that "there were Jewish perpetrators" of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, "not only German perpetrators." Gabbay condemned Morawiecki's words: "The blood of millions of Jews cries from the earth of Poland over the distortion of history and the escape from blame. Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and Poles took an active part in their murder. The government of Israel has to be a voice for the millions of murdered and strongly denounce the Polish prime minister's words."

Personal life

Gabbay lives in the Tel Baruch neighborhood of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. He is married to Ayelet, an immigrant from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. After a professional career in high tech, she now works as a teaching coordinator and English teacher at a Tel Aviv high school.מורה לאנגלית ואשת יו"ר: "אבי החליט שזה מה שהוא רוצה"
Ynet, 11 July 2017 They have three sons.‘Giving back the state to its citizens’
''The Jerusalem Post'', 30 March 2017 His family are described as "

Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

-voting". He is a sports enthusiast and has participated in several marathons.

Published works

In Hebrew

*Everything is possible, Yediot Ahronot, 2019 akol Efshari()

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabai, Avi 1967 births Living people Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Social Sciences alumni Israeli chief executives Israeli civil servants Kulanu politicians Israeli Labor Party leaders Ministers of environment of Israel Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Activists from Jerusalem Businesspeople from Jerusalem Israeli Mizrahi Jews Members of the 21st Knesset (2019) Jerusalem School of Business Administration alumni