Zoabi grew up in Iksal, a village near Nazareth, Israel.
[1] He studied at Tel Aviv University, graduating with a dual degree in film studies and literature, and then attended Columbia University on a Fulbright scholarship, receiving his MFA in 2005.
[1][2][3] Zoabi lives in Brooklyn and teaches at New York University.
His feature length debut was Man Without a Cell Phone (2010).
The movie was also nominated for a 2019 European Film Award for Best Comedy and was Luxembourg's submission to the 92nd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film.