Eli Levi

Eli Levi was born in 1930 in Nuremberg

Eli Levi was born in 1930 in Nuremberg, Germany, to Hans and Susi Levi. After the Nazis came to power, the family moved to Jerusalem in 1933. When his parents divorced he was sent to his grandparents in Nuremberg, and his mother brought him back in early 1936.

He studied in Tel Aviv and finished the Max Fein vocational school in electrical studies in 1947. As a member of Hashomer Hatzair he joined the Hapoel maritime company in 1944 and later became a sea instructor. From 1950 to 1952 he coordinated the Tel Aviv sea club, then joined Kibbutz Sa'ar and worked as its electrician.

He joined the navy reserves in 1953 and volunteered for regular service in 1955. He served on the destroyer INS Jaffa as gunnery officer and took part in early test firings of the missile that led to the Gabriel. In 1962 he took command of the torpedo boat T-206.

He earned a bachelor's degree in statistics and economics at the Hebrew University in 1967. After the Six-Day War he commanded the transport ship INS Bat Yam in the Red Sea. He later headed Naval Intelligence, and his last post was head of the Defense Ministry mission and IDF attaché in West Germany and first IDF attaché in Austria. He died in 2025.