Who is zivas father

You are living your life, making your choices. If you choose to let me be part of your life, I would welcome that with open arms. I am saddled with responsibilities that you cannot possibly fathom.

The safety of a nation. And every one of our neighbors wants us dead. I don't have the luxury of allowing my feelings to dictate my actions. Mossad Director Eli David : I have no feelings? There was a time, Ziva. When I was quite different. When my house was filled with the sound of children laughing.

You and Ari and Tali. Though Leroy Jethro Gibbs and other NCIS agents are initially hesitant to trust Ziva, she eventually proves her loyalty and becomes a beloved member of the team.

Among audiences, Ziva quickly became a fan favorite, due to her physical prowess, compelling storylines, and inability to remember American idioms. Ziva's personal life often bleeds into her professional one, whether it be her tenuous relationship with her family or her will-they-won't-they romance with coworker Anthony DiNozzo, which lasts more than a decade. She's incredibly good at what she does, but she's also only human — and that's why fans, and her colleagues, love her.

Ziva's upbringing in Israel is also explored over the course of her time as an NCIS mainstay, including the ways in which growing up in the thorny center of the Israel-Palestine conflict has shaped her worldview.

Unlike many other characters who first see violence as a part of their work, Ziva has been acquainted with war and loss from a very young age. Indeed, she's been affected by violence since long before she signed up to be a Mossad agent, let alone joined NCIS. Altogether, Ziva David has the one of the most elaborate and thoroughly fleshed-out backstories of any character in NCIS.

We're here to break it down, from beginning to end. Ziva was born in Be'er Sheva, a city in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Ari is a major adversary of the NCIS team in season two, and Ziva is actually introduced as his Mossad control officer before it's revealed that they are half-siblings. Ziva's life as a Jewish Israeli is a huge milestone for representation in network television.

Ziva's religion and ethnicity influence her character without completely smothering her in stereotypes, a delicate balance critics have praised. This can be seen in smaller details, like the Star of David necklace she wears throughout the show, her observance of Shabbat, and her taste for falafel , but also in larger story arcs involving her relationship with her father, a Mossad agent who later becomes the director of the Israeli intelligence agency. She worked with a Hebrew teacher to learn her Hebrew lines, and was later invited by the Israeli department of tourism to visit her character's homeland.

Her travels there deeply moved her, and have informed her portrayal of the character ever since. Ziva's father's involvement in Mossad shaped much of Ziva's childhood. In the season three episode "Ravenous," Ziva mentions doing ballet as a child, noting that her father never came to any of her performances.

Her father did spend some time with her, however, albeit entirely on his own terms: He trained her and her siblings in espionage and combat from a very young age.

One instance of Ziva's survival training involved Eli blindfolding his two daughters and bringing them into a forest, then telling them to find their way out alone. As a result of Eli's training, Ziva is an expert combatant. Though her relationship with her father is complex, she is grateful for the worldview he imposed upon her.

Eli made it clear to her that one "can never truly know a person or their secrets," a lesson she has taken to heart. All of this makes it easy to see why Ziva is regarded as a bit of a tomboy in adulthood.

When her character was first introduced in , there weren't many shows that depicted women like Ziva: Smart, competent law enforcement agents who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. In fact, in , New York Times critic Mike Hale wrote that Cote de Pablo's portrayal of Ziva is part of a "growing group of female action heroes who are infiltrating cop shows, spy shows, science-fiction shows and other genres where men once did the lion's share of the enforcing.

To say that Ziva's parents have a complicated relationship would be a massive understatement. Mossad agent Eli had an affair with a Muslim doctor named Hasmia Haswari while undercover as Benjamin Weinstein, a doctor working with Haswari in a hospital in Jerusalem.

Haswari then had a son named Ari, whom Eli groomed from childhood to infiltrate Hamas as a double agent for Mossad. Rivka, Ziva's mother, separated from Eli when Ziva was a child, allegedly because she disapproved of Eli's line of work.

She took Ziva and her younger sister Tali with her, supposedly to protect them from Eli's dangerous job and his cold nature towards his children. Meanwhile, he and Ziva argued over Eli's previous actions. Eli, Vance and Eli's bodyguard, Officer Hadar, ended up in an explosion in an NCIS safe house; the only reason why Eli and Vance survived the blast was because the bomb used was exactly the same as the bombs the two made together while in Amsterdam in the s.

Hadar died instantly, Vance ended up in the hospital, and Eli escaped with only minor injuries. Eli and Ziva had a surprisingly heartfelt make up before Eli returns to Israel.

Eli did not physically appear, but his voice was heard over the phone when he called Ziva to make sure she was okay after the bombing of the NCIS headquarters by Harper Dearing , and offers to help catch him.

Eli returned to Washington D. However, Ziva was not convinced that his intentions were pure, and was angered when she found out that he had killed a journalist who saw him arrive at the airport. The two were invited by Director Vance to have Shabbat dinner at his home, but Ziva was angered by something Eli said and got up to leave, and called Gibbs to inform him that Eli was responsible for the journalist's death.

About a few months later, Eli returned to Washington D. C where it was revealed that he had arrived in America without anyone knowing of his visit with the primary reason for his visit being to repair his strained relationship with Ziva, in part by working toward a plan for peace between Israel and Palestine. Ziva did not buy his intentions and later discovered that Eli had murdered a journalist who had seen him arrive at the airport.

Vance invited them to Shabbat dinner at his house but seconds later and while Ziva was talking to Gibbs, gunfire erupted through the house, causing carnage and presumably killing Eli instantly with the impact of the gunfire also leaving Jackie Vance badly injured.

Ziva quickly recovered and ran after the shooter with Gibbs arriving to help her while Tony and McGee arrived at the Vance household. The shooter later committed suicide by poisoning himself when Gibbs and Ziva confronted him which left Ziva deeply frustrated and annoyed. When both Gibbs and Ziva arrived back at the house, Ziva learnt that her father had passed away in her absence and while cradling his remains which were in a corner, began grieving for him as her colleagues looked on.

Because of the turmoil that would ensue in the Middle East and Israel had Eli's death occurred, the NCIS was also supplied with Presidential orders to investigate the circumstances behind the hit within 48 hours and keep Eli's death a secret until they found out who killed him.

The person responsible was later revealed to be Mossad deputy director Ilan Bodnar who wanted to take over Mossad with the motivation of instigating a conflict between Israel and Iran. Ziva later achieved her goal of avenging Eli and Jackie Vance, when after engaging in hand-to-hand combat against Bodnar, Ziva won and threw Bodnar off the ship with the impact off being thrown at such a great height as well as crashing onto some boxes killing Bodnar instantly.

As former Deputy Director as well as official Director of Mossad, Eli had been manipulating his son, Ari and daughter, Ziva from birth in hopes of both of them becoming cold-blooded killers and possibly joining him to defend Israel against attack from any foreign enemies.

But Eli's dreams were shattered when both went against him. Ziva headed to America and joined NCIS while Ari went rogue and became a double agent, focusing on avenging his mother's death before being killed by Ziva on Eli's orders. Eli can appear to be a very cold-hearted and unforgiving man whose main obsession is to protect Israel, no matter what the cost. The dead guy's car and much evidence show up in an off-airport parking lot. Ziva recognizes a hat and discusses it; Ziva and her father eat dinner with Vance and Jackie in their home; a lone gunman shoots up the place, killing one person and injuring another, who later dies.

Ziva pursues the shooter, and she and Gibbs catch him. Action Crime Drama Mystery Thriller. Add content advisory. Did you know Edit. Trivia When Agent David yells "Ben kelev", that is roughly translated to "son of a bitch". Goofs Ziva says "I'm fine," which is a contraction of the words " I am," and Ziva does not use contractions. Quotes Austin : It was so awesome!

Randy : Thank you. Connections References Spartacus User reviews 3 Review. Top review.