“I won’t stand here and pretend that everything is easy. Every morning I wake up to a battlefield,” says Michal Rosenbaum in her first interview with the media. The Director of the Government Companies Authority participated last night in the launch event of Forbes PowerWomen by Forbes Israel. She spoke about the challenging time she is going through but emphasized that she would continue to act according to her values.
“There are values that guide me. I was chosen for a role that requires me to behave as I do,” she said in an interview with Forbes Israel. “More than that, I don’t think any of the inspiring women sitting here tonight would behave differently. Despite the background noise, there is something that pushes me to face these attacks: it is the knowledge that one needs to focus on the important things and believe in them.”
“I am excited to be here,” she said to interviewer Mor Yogev. “It is also a personally touching evening because my daughter is finally joining me, and that especially moves me.” Forbes Israel magazine revealed the list of inspiring women in Israel during the Forbes PowerWomen conference held at the event hall of the law firm Pearl Cohen, in Azrieli Sarona Tower.
Over 200 entrepreneurial women from various fields attended the event, and selectees from the list spoke on stage, including Shirli Rimon Bracha, Director of Education Administration in Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality; Michal Braverman Blumenstyk, CEO of Microsoft Israel Research and Development; Avia Magen, CEO of Fattal Hotels Israel, and as mentioned, Attorney Michal Rosenboum, the Director of the Government Companies Authority. Additionally, participants in the event included Dorin Mendel, actress and content creator, Keren Hod, CEO of WE, and Attorney Hili Rashkovan, partner and head of the Israel Technology Transactions Group at Pearl Cohen’s office.
Rosenboum spoke at the conference during a particularly complex period. She has been facing severe attacks, sometimes personal, primarily from David Amsalem – the Minister for Regional Development, who also serves as a minister in the Ministry of Justice, and who received responsibility for the Government Companies Authority in April 2023.
Minister Amsalem claimed that Rosenboum is clearly exceeding her authority, is unfit for her role, and is doing everything in her power to thwart his ability to oversee the work of the Companies Authority and to formulate his policy as a minister. These exact reasons were cited in a letter he sent to the Civil Service Commissioner with a demand to “immediately terminate her tenure.”
“Friendship is not a criterion to manage all of our assets… If one of us were ill, we wouldn’t go to a friend of the minister to operate on him, right?”
“The gap between our perceptions is immense,” says Attorney Rosenbaum. “The minister’s perception is at the heart of the dispute over worldviews regarding who should manage the government companies and who should manage our assets”.
Amsalem also revealed a certain worldview about appointing people he knows, people in his close environment. He says, ‘I bring people that I know are quality, that I know them.’
“Acquaintance is not disqualifying, of course, but it cannot be the only criterion. Friendship is not a criterion to manage all of our assets. After all, we would all go to the best investment bankers to manage our assets, and if one of us were ill, we wouldn’t go to a friend of the minister to operate on us, right? We would go to the best professionals to operate on us. In the same way, I want the most talented managers to preserve the most important assets of the State of Israel.”
“There will be no political dismissals“
Before she entered her role in April 2022, the Authority declared its commitment to “combat any improper phenomenon that arises in the government companies it oversees, and to act to disconnect the decision-making processes in companies from political considerations, while increasing transparency and professionalism.”
This is what she did upon entering her role, demanding to tighten enforcement on government companies and obligate them to transfer at least half of their net profits to the state. As a result – and after years in which this requirement embedded in the Government Companies Law was not enforced – in her first year, the Authority signed off on collection volumes that reached a peak: about 1.4 billion shekels in dividends in 2022, more than double the previous record collected in 2019. Concurrently, she worked to significantly increase the transparency of the companies, which began publishing financial reports and important financial data at her instruction.
However, it seems that her biggest struggle is occurring around what she sees as the politicization of government companies. This was the case when she acted against the dismissal of the Chairman of Israel Post, Mishael Vaknin, by the Minister of Communications, Shlomo Karhi – a move she described as “harming the public interest.”
This was also the case when she decided to disqualify (subject to a hearing) the appointment of Attorney Elad Bardugo, the nephew of Yaakov Bardugo, a media person and an associate of the Prime Minister. Rosenboum argued that in the appointment process for the legal advisor role of Netivei Israel “significant severe flaws occurred.”
Regarding the dismissal of Vaknin, Rosenboum said: “Fortunately, I found an excellent partner, the chairman of the postal company, a man I didn’t know. His name is Mishael Vaknin. A man with a kippah, from Ashdod, who happens to be an excellent manager and chairman of a successful company.
He brought with him an excellent CEO from the private sector, and together, in full partnership with us, they are advancing the privatization of the mail. And look what a wonder – the company is suddenly turning a profit. You can’t change the numbers in the end.
“The ministers come and say they want to dismiss him. I asked why, and they explained that he was not a good chairman. I ask why, and they tell me that the company is losing. I look at the numbers and say – what does that mean? Israel Post has turned a profit. ‘No, it’s not related to him, the company is losing, it’s the interest.’ Because suddenly we have changes in interest. And I argue with the facts because I know every detail regarding Israel Post.”
“The ministers insist, and I come with an agenda that says – the best people will manage the government companies, and I will also be their shield”
Israel Post is not perceived as an advanced institution, beloved by Israelis. Maybe there is logic in his dismissal?
“First of all, I’m sending you to the post office branch tomorrow, and you will tell me if there is an improvement in the service. And secondly, this is exactly the reason why the State of Israel is selling the Post. The management world of the private market will be better than governmental management. But it needs to be prepared for sale, so I oppose this dismissal.”
“The ministers insist, and I come with an agenda that says – the best people will manage the government companies, and I will also be their shield. Because if there is no reason to dismiss a chairman, and he did not fail in his role, I will keep his place.
And when I need to stand my ground, and I know that the gates of hell will open on me, and I know that the moment I present my position and stand firmly on this position, we talked about a battlefield? I will go to the battlefield. I think there is a very significant statement here for the good people we want to come to manage the government companies – there will be no political dismissals, especially as long as I am in the role.”
Do you think you will complete your term as the head of the authority?
“I think that’s not the question. The question is whether they will let me continue and do my job. If they let me realize my vision, the things I came for the role for.
Fortunately, we are a body that is independent enough, and of course, there are still interfaces, and if you allow me to refine your question – if they allow me, I can promote the values I came for, promote privatization, promote economic efficiency, help the public in the State of Israel. It’s all a question of whether they will let me do it.”
