Michal Esther Abadi-Boiangiu

Michal Esther Abadi-Boiangiu is an Israeli accountant, economist and lawyer whose career has placed her at the center of the country’s public finances and financial institutions. In 2011, she became the first woman appointed accountant general of Israel, a position with far-reaching responsibility for government financing, state debt and public assets. After completing a six-year term under three finance ministers, she brought her experience to leadership positions in investment management, banking, energy and infrastructure. In February 2026, she returned to the Ministry of Finance for a second term as accountant general.

Her professional path combines accounting, economics and law with practical experience in some of Israel’s most consequential institutions. From supervising health funds to overseeing financial systems associated with a state budget of more than NIS 330 billion, her work has concerned the institutional foundations on which everyday public services depend.

Family roots, national service and multidisciplinary training

Abadi-Boiangiu was born in Holon on December 5, 1966, and grew up there. Her family story reflects the gathering in Israel of Jewish communities from North Africa and the Middle East. Her mother immigrated from Morocco at the age of 12 and worked as a nurse-midwife. Her father arrived from Egypt at 18 as part of a Hashomer Hatzair group. Two of her brothers pursued professional careers in music: Yoel Abadi became a French horn player with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, while Gadi Abadi became a violist and director of the Jerusalem Music Centre.

She enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces in 1984 and served as an intelligence officer in Unit 8200. She subsequently studied economics and accounting at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, graduating with honors. In 1991, she began an internship at the accounting firm Somekh Chaikin and received her certified public accountant’s license in 1993. She later earned an additional undergraduate degree in law from Tel Aviv University and qualified as a lawyer.

This combination of disciplines gave her a broad framework for approaching public administration. Financial statements, budgets, regulation and legal accountability are often treated as separate fields; her career developed at their intersection.

Public healthcare, securities oversight and state assets

Abadi-Boiangiu entered public service in 1997 as an economic adviser to Health Minister Yehoshua Matza. In January 1998, she was appointed a deputy director general of the Ministry of Health, with responsibility for supervising Israel’s health funds and their supplementary health-service programs. The position placed financial and regulatory judgment in direct contact with a system serving millions of Israeli residents.

From 1998 to 2006, she also served as a member of the Israel Securities Authority plenum and chaired its audit committee. These responsibilities involved the structures of oversight, accountability and sound governance that help sustain confidence in financial markets.

In October 2003, she was appointed chair of M.I. Holdings, the government company responsible for selling state-held shares in banks that had entered the arrangement created after Israel’s bank-share crisis. During her tenure, the company led the privatization process for Israel Discount Bank, whose controlling interest was sold to an investor group headed by Matthew Bronfman. The assignment required the stewardship of a major public asset at the point where government policy, banking and capital markets met.

Banking and corporate financial management

At the beginning of 2006, Abadi-Boiangiu joined First International Bank of Israel. She served as an executive vice president and head of the chief accountant division, working at the core of the bank’s financial reporting and management systems. She also held directorships in related companies, including Israel Credit Cards, Bank Otsar Ha-Hayal, MATAF Computing and Financial Operations, and First International Issues.

Her move from government oversight into senior bank management gave her experience on both sides of the financial system. She had worked with the state’s responsibility for regulation, stability and public assets; she now dealt directly with financial operations, reporting and corporate governance within a major banking group.

Israel’s first woman accountant general

Abadi-Boiangiu was appointed accountant general in 2011 and entered the office that June. She was the first woman to hold the position. Until January 2017, she served under finance ministers Yuval Steinitz, Yair Lapid and Moshe Kahlon, providing professional continuity across changes in political leadership and economic priorities.

The Accountant General’s Department is one of the government’s central operating arms. During her first term, Abadi-Boiangiu carried practical responsibility for financial systems associated with a state budget exceeding NIS 330 billion, as well as government financing, public debt and state assets. The importance of this work extends well beyond bookkeeping. Israel’s ability to finance services, manage risk, maintain financial credibility and protect public property affects every government ministry and, ultimately, every resident who relies on public institutions.

Her appointment also represented a significant institutional milestone. By leading one of the most influential professional offices in Israel’s economic administration, she opened another path for women seeking senior responsibility in finance, law, banking and public service. It was a barrier broken through sustained professional preparation and experience rather than through symbolism alone.

Public responsibility and leadership beyond the Treasury

Abadi-Boiangiu served on a committee chaired by retired Supreme Court Deputy President Eliezer Rivlin that examined the possibility of a special compensation arrangement for workers at the Nuclear Research Center in Dimona who developed cancer following occupational exposure to ionizing radiation. Her participation brought financial and legal expertise to a sensitive question of the state’s responsibility toward its employees.

In February 2018, she became chair of Psagot Investment House, serving for approximately one year and two months. In July 2021, Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman decided to appoint her chair of the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company. She has also chaired the board of Dorad Energy. These appointments extended her work into energy and infrastructure, sectors in which financial governance and long-term planning bear directly on the resilience of the Israeli economy.

In December 2025, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich decided to appoint Abadi-Boiangiu accountant general for a second time. She entered the office in February 2026, returning to the center of Israel’s public financial administration after gaining further boardroom and infrastructure experience.

Connecting institutional stewardship with daily life

Abadi-Boiangiu’s contribution does not rest on a single project. It lies in a sustained sequence of positions requiring stewardship of public money, regulatory understanding and the ability to act within large, complex organizations. Oversight of the health funds concerned medical services available to Israeli families. The management of state-held bank shares concerned the value and disposition of public assets. The accountant general’s work supports the financial machinery through which government policy becomes functioning services.

Her career also illustrates why professional public administration matters even when it remains largely outside the spotlight. Hospitals, schools, infrastructure and government programs all depend on financing, controls and risk management. Her work has centered on those underlying systems and on the state’s capacity to meet its obligations over time.

Why Michal Esther Abadi-Boiangiu belongs in Moreshet

Michal Esther Abadi-Boiangiu merits inclusion in Moreshet not only because she became Israel’s first woman accountant general, but because her career demonstrates how financial and legal expertise can serve the public. She has worked in institutions that shape Israeli life—from healthcare and securities regulation to banking, state finance and energy infrastructure—and has carried responsibility for assets and systems of national importance.

For Moreshet.com, her story records an important chapter in the development of Israeli public service: the rise of a daughter of Jewish immigrants from Morocco and Egypt to one of the country’s most senior professional offices; the opening of another door for women in economic leadership; and the direct connection between responsible financial management and resilient public institutions. Hers is a legacy of professional stewardship and public responsibility whose effects are felt even when the work itself takes place far from public view.