Avi Gabbay
Avi Gabbay | |
---|---|
Minister of Environmental Protection | |
Faction represented in the Knesset | |
2019 | Labor Party |
Personal details | |
Born | Jerusalem, Israel | 22 February 1967
Avraham "Avi" Gabbay (
Early life and career
Gabbay was born in the
Gabbay began his career by working for the Ministry of Finance for four and a half years.
Business career
In 1998, he joined Bezeq 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.[4][5] 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, Israel's national airline.[5] In January 2020, Gabbay become CEO of telecommunications company Cellcom.[6]
Political career
Kulanu Party
Prior to the 2015 Knesset elections he was amongst the founders of the new Kulanu party.[7] Despite not being elected to the Knesset, he was appointed Minister of Environmental Protection in the Netanyanu government.[8] On 27 May 2016, he submitted his resignation from the government in protest at the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as Minister of Defense and the coalition's shift to the right.[9][10]
Labor Party
On 29 December 2016, Gabbay announced he would join the
On 1 January 2019, Gabbay announced the dissolution of the Zionist Union and the cessation of partnership with
In January 2019, his autobiography Hakol Efshari ("Everything is Possible") was published.[17]
Political positions
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
In his political plan, published during the 2017 Labor leadership primaries,
In October 2017, during a television interview, he stated that there was no need to evacuate settlements as part of an agreement.[19][20] 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.[21]
Following the President Donald Trump'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.[22] However, about six months earlier he explained that "undivided Jerusalem" did not include the Arab neighborhoods on the suburbs of Jerusalem.[23]
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.[24]
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 efficiency measures. He supports the reduction of inequality between central Israel and the periphery, and between Jews and Arabs 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 average. According to Gabbay, public transport 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
Religion and state
Gabbay stated support for public transportation on Shabbat,[26] as well as allowing supermarkets and hang-out places to remain open on Shabbat,[27] Reform conversions,[28] Civil marriage,[29] the Western Wall compromise, and against the "Hadata" (הדתה, "religionization") of schools by the activities of the various associations (Amutot)[30] On the issue of enlisting Ultra orthodox Haredim, on the other hand, he declared that this was unrealistic.[31]
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.[32][33]
LGBT rights
Gabbay expressed support for LGBT rights on several occasions, and introduced a legislative package of 24 laws on LGBT rights [34][35]
Holocaust
In February 2018, the
Personal life
Gabbay lives in the Tel Baruch neighborhood of Tel Aviv. He is married to Ayelet, an immigrant from Australia. After a professional career in high tech, she now works as a teaching coordinator and English teacher at a Tel Aviv high school.[38] They have three sons.[3][5] His family are described as "Likud-voting".[9] He is a sports enthusiast and has participated in several marathons.
Published works
In Hebrew
- Everything is possible, ISBN 978-965-564-780-8) (in Hebrew)
References
- ^ תרומות וערבויות למועמדים בבחירות מקדימות Archived 30 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine State Comptroller of Israel
- ^ Raoul Wootliff (2 July 2019). "Ailing Labor elects past chairman Amir Peretz to lead it through next election". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
- ^ a b ‘Giving back the state to its citizens’ The Jerusalem Post, 30 March 2017
- ^ Suddenly, Bezeq CEO stepping down Haaretz, 21 January 2013
- ^ a b c 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
- ^ Gad Perez, Cellcom names Avi Gabbay CEO, Globes, 5 January 2020
- ^ Kahlon officially registers new Kulanu party The Jerusalem Post, 12 December 2014
- ^ Who’s who in Netanyahu’s 2015 government Times of Israel, 15 May 2015
- ^ a b Israel’s Labour party gambles on Avi Gabbay The Economist, 12 July 2017
- ^ Israeli minister resigns in protest of Lieberman's appointment as defense minister Ma'an news, 27 May 2016
- ^ Former Netanyahu Minister Avi Gabai Joins Opposition Labor Party Haaretz, 29 December 2016
- ^ Ex-Kulanu minister to challenge Herzog for Labor leadership Times of Israel, 4 March 2017
- ^ Labor elects newcomer Avi Gabbay as party leader in major upset Times of Israel, 10 July 2017
- ^ Herzog to remain opposition head under new Labor leader Gabbay The Jerusalem Post, 12 July 2017
- ^ "כפי שפורסם בוואלה! NEWS: יחימוביץ' מונתה ליו"ר האופוזיציה". וואלה! בחירות 2019. 1 January 2019.
- ^ "גבאי הודיע: העבודה והתנועה מתפצלות - המחנה הציוני יפורק". וואלה! בחירות 2019. 1 January 2019.
- ^ "סטימצקי - הכול אפשרי \/ אבי גבאי". סטימצקי. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
- ^ a b c The political plan Archived 27 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine Avi Gabbay (in Hebrew)
- Channel 20, 16 October' 2017
- ^ Amit Segal, Yaron Avraham, "דברי גבאי - לא עמדת המחנ"צ", mako, 16 October 2017
- ^ GIL HOFFMAN, JOY BERNARD, GABBAY CLARIFIES POSITION ON SETTLEMENTS FOLLOWING LEFT WING OUTRAGE, The Jerusalem Post, 17 October 2017
- ^ דוד בן בסט מראיין את אבי גבאי, "הנבחרים", on YouTube, 8 December 2017
- ^ גבאי בראיון ל-ynet: "תומך בשתי מדינות, ירושלים תישאר מאוחדת", Ynet, 11 July 2017
- ^ גבאי על תוכנית ההתנתקות מיו"ש: "מי אמר שצריך לפנות התנחלויות?" on Maariv website, 4 February 2018
- ^ The social-economic plan Archived 14 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine Avi Gabbay (in Hebrew)
- ^ גבאי מצהיר: "אי הפעלת תחבורה ציבורית בשבת, עוול חברתי חמור" Channel 10, 9 July 2017
- ^ "שומרים על שבת ישראלית". Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
- ^ I am in favour of Reform conversions, but not everyone can convert 93FM, 19 July 2017 (in Hebrew)
- Israeli Broadcasting Corporationwebsite, 30 December 2017
- ^ נגד "הדתה" בבתי הספר, בעד החזרת שכונות ערביות בירושלים. העמדות וההבטחות של אבי גבאי Yedioth Ahronoth, 11 July 2017
- Channel 20, 13 September 2017
- ^ Atara German, אבי גבאי: "מערכת החינוך מחולקת לארבעה שבטים", Serugim ,30 August 2017 (in Hebrew)
- ^ פרק ראשון: ארבעת השבטים Avi Gbbay facebook, 1 September 2017
- ^ WDG editors,סיעת המחנה הציוני הכינה חבילה של 24 הצעות חוק העוסקות בזכויות הקהילה הגאה, on WDG website, 31 October 2018 (In Hebrew)
- ^ Post on Avi Gabbay official facebook page, 22 July 2018
- ^ "Benjamin Netanyahu attacks Polish PM for saying Jews were among perpetrators of the Holocaust". The Independent. 18 February 2018.
- ^ "Israel: Polish PM's 'Jewish perpetrators' Holocaust remark 'outrageous'". Deutsche Welle. 18 February 2018.
- ^ מורה לאנגלית ואשת יו"ר: "אבי החליט שזה מה שהוא רוצה" Ynet, 11 July 2017
External links
- Avi Gabbay on the Knesset website