Militaryצבי גבעתי

Zvi Givati

Zvi Givati is a retired Israeli Navy colonel who commanded Shayetet 13 from 1974 to 1976.

born 1934Commanding Shayetet 13Founding the Nachson UnitNavy combat diver

Born: 25 November 1934, Poland
Occupation: military personnel
Rank: aluf mishne
Wars: Six-Day War, War of Attrition, Yom Kippur War
Founded: Nachson Unit (1973)

Zvi Givati was born in 1934 in Poland

Zvi Givati was born Zvi Avraham Rotenberg on November 25, 1934, in Poland. His father, Yaakov Rotenberg, had fought in World War I, and his mother, Hana, was a nurse.

In 1939 the family fled the Germans to the Soviet zone and was later sent to Siberia, where Zvi barely went to school. After the war they returned to Poland, left after a pogrom in 1946, and reached a displaced persons camp in Germany.

The family reached Haifa in October 1948 and settled in south Jaffa. Zvi trained as a printing worker and worked in that trade from age 16 to 18.

He was drafted into the IDF in November 1952 and volunteered for Shayetet 13, where friends nicknamed him Caruso. He qualified as a combat diver in 1953 and was later recommended for a naval officers course.

He founded the Nachson Unit in 1973. His last post was commander of Shayetet 13, from 1974 to 1976, and he retired as a colonel.