Yitzhak Souary hands the Allied Group chairmanship to his son Gary on January 1, 2027. Who he is, what the Jersey trust behind Champion Motors owns, and what the handover means today.
The Builders | Olam.business
Yitzhak Souary, 80, is handing the chairmanship of the trust behind Allied Group (אלייד), the Israeli conglomerate that owns Champion Motors, to his son Gary Souary, 43, on January 1, 2027. Souary has chaired the trust for 20 years and holds no equity in Allied, which a Jersey trust has controlled since founder Aharon Gutwirth's death in 1980.
Last updated: November 14, 2026
What changed at Allied Group in November 2026?
Calcalist reported on November 9, 2026 that Yitzhak Souary will step down as chairman of the Allied trust and that his son Gary Souary will take the role on January 1, 2027. The trustees approved the appointment at a meeting in Paris.
Souary told Allied employees that he turned 80 this year and has dealt with a physical limitation for the past year, and that the group needs management changes that reduce its dependence on him. He will stay on as a director at some group companies. He also leaves the chairmanship of Allied Real Estate, which holds property worth billions of shekels in Israel and Europe, and Motti Singer, his former partner at the accounting firm they founded, will chair it.
Calcalist reports that Allied's companies have combined annual sales above NIS 7 billion and that the group has been classed as a concentrated group in Israel since 2018. Two years earlier, Allied donated NIS 400 million toward a school of medicine at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Gary Souary joined the holding company's board in 2022, after serving as assistant to Zion Kenan, then chief executive of Bank Hapoalim, and after managing the Souary family investment company Yongil from 2016 to 2022. Calcalist also describes Yitzhak Souary as a certified public accountant who co-founded the accounting firm where Singer was his partner.
Yitzhak Souary at a Glance
Yitzhak Souary's career spans public service, academia, and business leadership, culminating in his chairmanship of Allied Group.
| Born | 1946, Iraq; immigrated to Israel at age four, raised in Ramat Gan |
|---|---|
| Education | PhD, University of Rochester, New York, age 33; professor emeritus, Tel Aviv University Faculty of Management |
| Public service | Former deputy commissioner of Israel's Income Tax Authority; former Bank of Israel development-market supervisor |
| Allied trusteeship | Named one of five A.G. Trust trustees, 1992; chairman since 2006; hands the chairmanship to his son Gary Souary on January 1, 2027 |
| Ownership stake in Allied | None; Souary holds no equity in the group he chairs |
| Successors named | Gary Souary (trust chairman); Motti Singer (chairman of Allied Real Estate), both from January 1, 2027 |
| Personal ventures | Co-founded Sky Investment Fund, 2005; UK real estate holdings via Chamoss, registered in the British Virgin Islands |
| Group companies | Champion Motors, Pri Leasing, Autodeal, Metropolis, Maman, UPS Israel, Carmel Tunnels, Menora Mivtachim Holdings, and others |
How did Yitzhak Souary become Allied Group chairman?
Yitzhak Souary's path to leading Allied Group began with his academic and public service career before his appointment as a trustee.
Souary was born in Iraq in 1946 and immigrated to Israel at age four. He grew up in Ramat Gan and completed a PhD at the University of Rochester, New York, at age 33. He later became a professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Management and founded the Yosef Kasirer Institute for Accounting Research there. His public service included roles as deputy commissioner of Israel's Income Tax Authority and supervisor of development-market operations at the Bank of Israel.
Allied Group originated with Aharon Gutwirth, a Belgian-Jewish businessman who founded Allied Investments in Israel in 1965. In May 1965, Gutwirth established Champion Motors Israel Ltd. to import Volkswagen vehicles. Before his death in 1980, Gutwirth transferred Allied's management to a trust registered in Jersey, with his close associate Chaim Rubin becoming chairman of the five-member trusteeship.
Souary was named one of the five A.G. Trust trustees in 1992. Upon Rubin's death in 2006, Souary became the trust's chairman, effectively placing him as the manager of Allied Group. Sources close to the group indicate that Souary's influence over Allied's strategic direction preceded his formal chairmanship by over a decade.
What companies does Allied Group control today?
Under Yitzhak Souary's leadership, Allied Group expanded into a significant Israeli conglomerate with interests across multiple sectors.
The group's holdings span infrastructure, commercial real estate, automotive, logistics, consumer electronics, environmental services, and insurance. Key subsidiaries include Champion Motors, the exclusive Israeli importer of Volkswagen, Audi, Škoda, SEAT, and Cupra vehicles. Other entities include the leasing company Pri Leasing, Autodeal, Metropolis, logistics operator Maman, UPS Israel, and the Carmel Tunnels toll road. Allied Group also holds a stake in Menora Mivtachim Holdings.
Calcalist's November 2026 list adds Emkol (buses and heavy equipment), more than 900,000 square meters of income-producing property, 480 dunams of land between north Tel Aviv and Herzliya, Negev Ecology, wind energy in Poland, turbine farms in the United States, about 22 percent of the logistics company Mamen, Newpan and Tzemel, and describes the Carmel Tunnels holding as 50 percent.
Significant acquisitions under Souary's chairmanship include the A.L.M. consumer electronics chain and the purchase of approximately one-third of Dr. Eli Rosenberg's overriding royalty rights in the Avner gas-drilling partnership for about $40 million. In August 2018, Allied divested most of its holding in the Ashtrom Group, concluding Gutwirth's historical investment in that company.
What are Yitzhak Souary's personal business ventures?
Beyond his role at Allied Group, Yitzhak Souary developed substantial personal business interests, primarily in UK real estate and private investment.
Souary holds no ownership stake in Allied Group. His personal ventures include significant investments in UK real estate with partners Yigal Ahuvi and Shimon Weintrob. One such joint holding, Chamoss, co-owned with Tzadik Bino and registered in the British Virgin Islands, raised approximately NIS 1.5 billion in a 2018 Tel Aviv Stock Exchange bond offering. Chamoss's assets comprise 85 UK properties leased entirely to Volkswagen UK, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group represented by Allied's Champion Motors in Israel. Additionally, in 2005, Souary co-founded Sky Investment Fund, a private investment vehicle, with Zvi Yochman and Nir Dagan.
Why is Yitzhak Souary important to Israeli business history?
Yitzhak Souary represents a distinct model of corporate control in Israel, emphasizing professional trust-based management over family ownership.
His leadership demonstrates a structure in Israeli big business that functions more like an endowment or foundation rather than the typical family-controlled holding companies prevalent in the country's corporate landscape. The handover to his son is the first change in the trust chairmanship since 2006, and the trustees, who serve for life and choose their own successors, made it. Souary's career as an academic accounting authority and former tax regulator, overseeing acquisitions in automotive, infrastructure, and insurance, marks him as a distinctive and influential, yet less publicly visible, figure in Israeli business.
Frequently Asked Questions About Yitzhak Souary
Who is Yitzhak Souary?
Yitzhak Souary is an Israeli accounting professor, former Income Tax Authority deputy commissioner, and the chairman of the Allied Group trust since 2006, a position he holds without any personal equity in the group. He hands the role to his son Gary Souary on January 1, 2027.
Who succeeds Yitzhak Souary at Allied Group?
Gary Souary, aged 43, becomes chairman of the Allied trust on January 1, 2027. Motti Singer, a former partner of Yitzhak Souary at their accounting firm, becomes chairman of Allied Real Estate.
Why is Yitzhak Souary stepping down?
He told employees he turned 80 this year and has a physical limitation that makes daily work harder, according to Calcalist. He will remain a director at some group companies.
What is Allied Group?
Allied Group is an Israeli conglomerate founded in 1965 by Aharon Gutwirth. Its operations span automotive imports through Champion Motors, infrastructure, real estate, logistics, consumer electronics, and insurance, managed since 1980 through a Jersey-registered trust.
Does Yitzhak Souary own Allied Group?
No, Yitzhak Souary does not own Allied Group. He chairs the A.G. Trust, which has controlled Allied Group since founder Aharon Gutwirth's death in 1980, but he holds no personal equity stake in the conglomerate itself. His son's appointment is also a trust chairmanship, not an ownership transfer.
What is Champion Motors?
Champion Motors is Allied Group's automotive subsidiary, established by Aharon Gutwirth in May 1965. It serves as the exclusive Israeli importer of Volkswagen, Audi, Škoda, SEAT, and Cupra vehicles.
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The Allied handover shows how a trust-run group passes leadership without a change of ownership. The next signals are any change in the five-member trust, which appoints its own replacements, and the boards of the operating subsidiaries.
The Olam Editorial Team | The Builders
How we report: Olam stories draw on public filings, company disclosures and named sources, checked by our editors. Read our methodology · Corrections
