Commander of the Navy (Israel)

Commander of the Israeli Navy
מפקד זרוע הים
Incumbent Vice admiral David Saar Salama since 2 September 2021
Israeli Navy
Member of	The General Staff
Reports to	Chief of the General Staff
Appointer	Chief of the General Staff
Formation	17 March 1948
First holder	Gershon Zak
Website	www.idf.il/en/minisites/general-staff/

The Commander of the Israeli Navy is the head and highest-ranking officer of the Israeli Navy, and has operational control and is responsible for overall operations of the navy. The current Commander David Saar Salama.

List of officeholders

No.	Picture	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Zak, GershonGershon Zak (1913–1989)	17 March 1948	April 1949	1 year	[1]
2		Shulman, PaulPaul Shulman (1922–1994)	April 1949	May 1949	1 month	[1]
3		Shamir, ShlomoAluf Shlomo Shamir (1915–2009)	May 1949	December 1950	1 year, 7 months	[1]
4		Limon, MordechaiAluf Mordechai Limon (1924–2009)	14 December 1950	30 June 1954	3 years, 6 months	[1]
5		Tankus, ShmuelAluf Shmuel Tankus (1914–2012)	1 July 1954	1960	5–6 years	[1]
6		Ben, YohaiAluf Yohai Ben-Nun (1924–1994)	1960	1966	5–6 years	[1]
7		Erell, ShlomoAluf Shlomo Erell (1920–2018)	January 1966	September 1968	2 years, 8 months	[1]
8		Botzer, AvrahamAluf Avraham Botzer (1929–2012)	September 1968	1 September 1972	4 years	[1]
9		Telem, BenjaminAluf Benjamin Telem (1928–2008)	1 September 1972	1976	3–4 years	[1]
10		Barkai, MichaelAluf Michael Barkai (1935–1999)	1976	10 January 1979	2–3 years	[1][2]
11		Almog, Ze'evAluf Ze'ev Almog (born 1935)	10 January 1979	February 1985	6 years	[1]
12		Ben, AvrahamAluf Avraham Ben-Shoshan (born 1940)	February 1985	1989	3–4 years	[1]
13		Ram, MichaAluf Micha Ram (1942–2018)	1989	1992	2–3 years	[1]
14		Ayalon, AmiAluf Ami Ayalon (born 1945)	1992	1995	2–3 years	[1]
15		Tal, AlexAluf Alex Tal (born 1946)	1995	1999	3–4 years	[1]
16		Ya'ari, YedidyaAluf Yedidya Ya'ari (born 1947)	1999	September 2004	4–5 years	[1]
17		Ben, DavidAluf David Ben-Besht (born 1950)	September 2004	2007	2–3 years	[1]
18		Marom, EliAluf Eli Marom (born 1955)	2007	2011	3–4 years	[1]
19		Rothberg, RamAluf Ram Rothberg (born 1964)	10 October 2011	12 September 2016	4 years, 11 months	[1][3]
20		Sharvit, EliAluf Eli Sharvit (born 1964)	12 September 2016	2 September 2021	4 years, 11 months	[4][5]
21		Salama, DavidAluf David Saar Salama (born 1969)	2 September 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 7 months	[6]

References

1. "Israeli Navy: Navy Commanders-in-Chief". JEWISH VIRTUAL LIBRARY. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
2. "Israeli Navy Commander Ousted After Winning Acquittal in Rape". The New York Times. 10 January 1979. p. 7. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
3. "Maj. Gen. Marom: Israel Navy capable of operating in distant theaters" (Press release). IDF Spokesperson. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
4. "New Israeli Navy head: Major-General Eli Sharvit". JerusalemOnline. 12 September 2016. Archived from the original on 27 January 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
5. Gross, Judah Ari (12 September 2016). "IDF gets new top sailor, as Eisenkot makes fresh appointments". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
6. "דרגות אלוף הוענקו לתא"ל דוד סער סלמה הנכנס לתפקידו כמפקד זרוע הים". 2021-09-01. Archived from the original on 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2023-10-24.