Gabby Levy

Gabby Levy was born in 1944 in Bergama

Gabby Levy was born in 1944 in Bergama, in the Izmir province of Turkey, to Haim and Kaden (Linda). His family immigrated to Israel in 1949. He attended the Herzl elementary school in Yehud and later moved to a military boarding school near the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa.

After high school he joined the IDF, completed an armor officers course and signed on for additional career service. He commanded a tank company and fought in the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War. He retired with the rank of major.

In 1973 he completed a BA in Middle Eastern studies and geography at Tel Aviv University. He also earned an MA from Bar-Ilan University. He then passed the Foreign Ministry cadet exams and began as a secretary at Israel's consulate in Jamaica.

In 1999 he became ambassador to Australia, and in 2001 his post was extended to Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. In 2007 he was appointed ambassador in Ankara. In 2009 Turkish students threw eggs at him in Trabzon, and after the 2010 Gaza flotilla he was expelled from Turkey.

In 2014 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan invited him to inaugurate a synagogue restored by the Turkish government in his hometown.