Mr. Itzchak Gat has been appointed CEO of Elisra in 2005, bringing to his new position the rich record of executive experience from his previous high positions, held in both the Israel defense industries as well as the investment sector.

Up until this appointment Mr. Gat was Vice President at the Challenge Fund - Etgar L.P. and a member of the Fund’s Investment Committee. Prior to that Gat served as CEO of Poalim Electronic Communications, a member of Hapoalim Investments Group.

Before his career in the investments world, Mr. Gat served for six years as CEO of Rafael – Israel's MoD Weapons Development Authority. In this position he introduced significant changes to Rafael, reorganizing and downsizing the group, increasing sales and orders, drastically reducing previous losses and doubling export sales through international cooperation agreements. Under his leadership preparations were made to establish the suitable financial and accounting infrastructure to allow the Rafael transformation from a support unit of the Israel Defense Ministry into a government-owned company.

As CEO of Rafael Mr. Gat also chaired and participated as a member of several  boards of directors in partnerships and subsidiaries of Rafael, including: Galram, S.C.D. (Semi Conductor Devices) Ltd., Opgal (surveillance systems), and RDC, a leader in the application of Rafael’s military technologies to commercial solutions.

Mr. Gat joined Rafael after 27 years in the Israel Air Force as a pilot, soldier and commander. His last position in the IDF was Head of the Logistics and Engineering Directorate.

Mr. Gat completed his pilot training course as an outstanding student, and his military career included command of two combat squadrons, commander of Ramat-David Air Force Base, and head of the Operational Requirement Department. He holds a B.Sc. in Aeronautics from the Technion Institute of Technology.

Mr. Gat was born in Israel in 1947, is married to Zippi and has three children.