Eshel Armony

Eshel Armony was born in 1959 in North Carolina

Armony was born on a United States Army base in North Carolina to Israeli parents. His father studied architecture and taught Hebrew in the US Army. He grew up in the Bronx, New York, and moved with his family to Israel, where he lived in Even Yehuda and Beersheba.

He attended ORT Leibovitch in Netanya and Hadassim, left both, and completed his matriculation exams externally. He was part of a youth group in Kiryat Malakhi. He later earned a bachelor's degree in history and economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an MBA and a master's in philosophy of religion.

He joined the IDF in 1978 and served in Shayetet 13. In 1987 he joined the Mossad, working mainly in human intelligence in Israel and abroad. He took part in Operation Moses and ran covert activity in the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead, and his last post was head of the training division before he retired in 2010.

He was director general of the Kfar Saba municipality from 2010 to 2015 and of the Ministry of Construction and Housing from 2015 to 2017. From 2017 to 2023 he chaired the Port of Haifa board and led its privatization. He also sat on the board of the Nirim association for youth at risk.

He lived in Tel Aviv and was married to opera singer Orit Gabriel. His eldest daughter is composer Tom Meira Armony. He died of pancreatic cancer on March 19, 2026.