Ze'ev Almog

His parents had emigrated from Poland in 1933.

Almog had one younger brother, Amikam.

Almog grew up and was educated in Haifa.

Zeev Almog (זאב אלמוג; also written Ze'ev Almog; born 1 February 1935), was the Commander In Chief (C.I.C.) of the Israeli Navy from 1979 to 1985.

In August 1952, he graduated from the religious High School of "Yavne" and joined the Israeli Army in the framework of Benei Akiva (a religious youth organization), the "Nahal".

Almog graduated from Class Commanders and Physical Education Instructors courses and served in the infantry brigade of the Nahal.

In May 1954, Almog volunteered for the Naval Commando Unit and in 1955 was certified as a Naval Commando Warrior.

He was then sent to Officers and Naval Cadets Schools.

In July 1957, Almog was qualified as a naval officer.

In November of the same year, he was appointed as a Squad Commander within the Naval Commando Unit, and for the next five years filled active command and training roles within the Naval Commando Unit.

From 1962 to 1965, Almog studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

He received a BA degree in Geography and Political Science.

He conducted research and delivered his final dissertation on "The Geomorphology of the Coast of Atlit".

In October 1965, he was appointed Chief of Operations of the Naval Commando Unit.

In December 1966 he was certified and given command of a Naval Torpedo Boat.

During the Six-Day War in 1967, he was called to command a Naval Commando Team that penetrated the Egyptian port of Port Said.

In May 1968, Almog was appointed as the commander of the Naval Commando Unit.

During his tenure the status and functioning of the unit were dramatically transformed.

Under Almog's leadership, the unit performed eighty combat operations, the majority during the War of Attrition.

Among the more noteworthy operations were the raids on the Adabiya coast post, the Green Island fort (Operation Bulmus 6), as well as the sinking of two Egyptian torpedo boats in the Gulf of Suez (operation Escort), whose successful completion was the precondition for the execution of the armored raid (operation Raviv) on the Egyptian shore.

Almog completed professional training courses in different naval units and was certified as a missile boat commander.

In July 1972, Almog was appointed as the Commander of the Red Sea Arena at the rank of captain.

He commanded the combat operations of this arena during the Yom Kippur War (1973) which resulted in the incapacitation the Egyptian navy in the Gulf of Suez along with the destruction and capture of 28 Egyptian vessels.

During the Yom Kippur War, Almog joined the fourth raid into the Egyptian port of Hurgada, in the northern part of the Red Sea.

During this raid an Egyptian Missile boat was sunk using anti-tank M72 LAW missiles.

In addition, Almog participated in mortar shelling launched from a landing craft on the Egyptian anchorage of Marsa T'lamat (Central Gulf of Suez).

Under Almog's command, the new Naval base at Sharm el-Sheikh was built.

This base absorbed the first two Israeli-made Sa'ar 4 class missile boats that reached the base after sailing around Africa (due to the blockage of the Suez Canal).

In 1974, Almog studied at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island and received a Master's degree in Management and Strategy.

In August 1975 he was appointed as the commander of the Naval Base of Haifa and was promoted to one-star Rear Admiral.

In November 1976 he was appointed as a member of the founding team of the Israeli National Defense College and served as an instructor in the college during its first year of operation.

In January 1979, following the dismissal of Michael Barkai due to sexual misconduct, Almog was appointed as the Commander In Chief (C.I.C.) of the Israeli Navy and was promoted to the rank of two star Rear Admiral.

He served in this position until February 1985 (longer than any other Commander In Chief of the Israeli Navy).

Following are some of the noteworthy milestones from this period in his career:

Israel's naval territory was organized and divided into three naval arenas: Haifa, Ashdod, and the Red Sea.

The commanders of these arenas were assigned with full responsibility for the territory and forces under their command and their authority was expanded.

After a decade of lethal terrorist penetrations into Israel, under Almog's command, was able to eliminate penetration of terrorists from the Mediterranean and Red seas.

This was achieved as a result of an execution of new plan that combined both defensive and offensive actions.

He was also General Manager of Israel Shipyards from 1986 to 1995.

Almog was born in Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine.