Michael Barkai

Michael Barkai was born in 1935 in Ploiești

Barkai was born in Romania, the first son of Moshe and Rachel Borsok. In December 1947 his family tried to reach the Land of Israel by ship, but the British caught them and sent them to a detention camp in Cyprus. The family later settled in Bat Yam, where he took up sailing and helped support his parents.

He finished his high school diploma in evening classes and taught himself mathematics and English. He joined the navy, completed the naval officers course and served at the navy base in Eilat.

In 1959 he volunteered for the submarine flotilla and later commanded the submarines Rahav and Leviathan. His brother Avraham died aboard the submarine Dakar. After the Six-Day War he served at the Ashdod naval base.

In 1971 he moved to the missile boat flotilla and took command of it in July 1973. He led it in the Yom Kippur War, including the Battle of Latakia, and received the Medal of Distinguished Service. In 1976 he became Commander of the Navy with the rank of Aluf.

In 1979 a military tribunal tried him on a rape charge and acquitted him for lack of corroborating evidence, but Defense Minister Ezer Weizman removed him from command. He and his wife sailed around the world and returned to Israel in 1995. He died by suicide in 1999, on the day he learned the Dakar had been found.