[Satellite TODAY Insider 11-01-11] Gilat Satellite Networks’ board of directors has appointed Erez Antebi as its new CEO effective Jan. 1, replacing Amiram Levinberg who will continue to serve as Gilat’s chairman of the board.

    Levinberg elected to step aside as CEO due to recent amendments to the Israeli corporate law discouraging dual roles, and said he would continue to be actively involved in the company as chairman of the board. Levinberg, who co-founded Gilat, returned to his company in July 2005 to serve as CEO and chairman of the board, establishing a new defense market division in the company and acquiring technology from Wavestream and RaySat Antenna Systems to support these initiatives.

   “[Antebi] has proven his excellent operational and executive capabilities time and again. With Erez’s leadership, market focus, unrelenting drive and passion for the company’s future, I am confident that Gilat will continue to grow profitably in the future,” Levinberg said in a statement.

   Antebi currently serves as Gilat’s executive advisor for Ka Band solutions. Since 2006, Antebi held the CEO position at Gilat Network Systems and headed Spacenet Rural Communications for two years. According to Levinberg, Antebi was responsible for leading Gilat’s entry to the spot-beam satellite and Ka-Band technology markets and was instrumental in Gilat being awarded consumer initiatives Astra2Connect in Europe and Optus-NBN in Australia.

   “The changes in the satellite market open exciting new prospects such as Ka-band technology and expansion of satellite communications to international defense applications,” said Antebi.