Michael (Yomi) Barkai ( he, מיכאל ברקאי; January 26, 1935 – May 28, 1999) was the Commander of the

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...

, a recipient of the

Medal of Distinguished Service The Medal of Distinguished Service ( he, עיטור המופת) is an Israeli military decoration. The Medal of Distinguished Service is the third most important medal given by the IDF Chief of General Staff following an act that is done with co ...

for his command of the missile ships during the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

Biography

Childhood

Barkai was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, the capital of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, as a first born of Moshe and Rachel Borsok. As a boy, he experienced the persecution and violence directed against the local Jewish community by the

National Legionary State The National Legionary State was a Totalitarianism, totalitarian Fascism, fascist regime which governed Kingdom of Romania, Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led by ...

and the

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and ''Conducător'' during most of World War II. A Romanian Army career officer who made ...

regime. In December 1947, his family tried to make aliyah to Palestine, but their ship was caught by the British and they were sent to the

Cyprus internment camps The Cyprus internment camps were camps maintained in Cyprus by the British government for the internment of Jews who had immigrated or attempted to immigrate to Mandatory Palestine, which was in violation of British policy. There were a total of ...

, as the British prohibited Jews emigration to Palestine under the

White Paper of 1939 The White Paper of 1939Occasionally also known as the MacDonald White Paper (e.g. Caplan, 2015, p.117) after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary, who presided over its creation. was a policy paper issued by the British governmen ...

. When

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

declared its independence, his family finally arrived in Israel and settled in

Bat Yam Bat Yam ( he, בַּת יָם or ) is a city located on Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast, on the Central Coastal Plain just south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area and the Tel Aviv District. In 2020, it had a population ...

. In Bat Yam, Barkai realized his love for the sea.

Service in the Israeli Navy

In 1953, Barkai enlisted in the

Israeli Ground Forces The Israeli Ground Forces ( he, זרוע היבשה) are the Army, ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the GOC Army Headquarters, General Officer Commanding with the rank of Major General, the ''Mazi'', subordinate ...

in the Engineer (Sapper) Corps. He entered the Officer School for the

in 1956 and was commissioned in 1957. In 1958, he married his wife Rachel, the couple subsequently had two children. In 1959, Barkai volunteered to join the Israeli Navy's submarine unit and quickly became captain of a submarine. His expertise and military genius made him a common advisor in the Israeli Navy headquarters under the Command of Shlomo Arel. By the late 1960s, Barkai was stationed for a brief time in the Naval quarters in Ashdod until in 1971 he was put in charge of the missile ship fleet. during the Yom Kippur War Barkai's military strategies and genius helped turn the tide of the war for the Israelis. Barkai managed to scare the Egyptian and Syrian navies so much that, by the end of the war, their ships would not leave the harbor (see

Battle of Latakia The Battle of Latakia ( ar, معركة اللاذقية; he, קרב לטקיה) was a small but revolutionary naval action of the Yom Kippur War, fought on 7 October 1973 between Israel and Syria. It was the first naval battle in history to se ...

and

Battle of Baltim The Battle of Baltim (also Battle of Damietta, Battle of Baltim–Damietta, Battle of Damietta–Baltim or Battle of Damietta – El Burelos) was fought between the Israeli Navy and the Egyptian Navy on October 8–9, 1973, during the Yom Kippur ...

). For his heroism, Barkai received the

, which he accepted on behalf of all the Israeli missile ship fighters. In 1974, Barkai was stationed at the Israeli Naval headquarters and in 1976, at the rank of

Aluf ''Aluf'' ( he, אלוף, lit=champion or "First\leader of a group" in Biblical Hebrew; ) is a senior military rank in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for officers who in other countries would have the rank of general, air marshal, or admiral. ...

, Barkai became the Commander of the

. Barkai continued to build the Israeli Navy, under his command the Israeli Navy received the Gal class submarines and commissioned the building of two new corvettes. Barkai completely reorganized the sloppy command of the Israeli Navy into a great command. In 1979 Barkai was tried by a military tribunal for an alleged rape of a female non-commissioned officer. He was acquitted due to lack of corroborating evidence but was relieved of his command by

Defence Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Ezer Weizman Ezer Weizman (; he, עֵזֶר וַיצְמָן ''Ezer Vaytsman''; 15 June 1924 – 24 April 2005) was the seventh President of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Ai ...

After military service

Barkai and his wife Rachel moved to Greece where they built the yacht "Leviathan." With it they sailed around the world, returning to Israel only in 1995. In 1999, Barkai was diagnosed with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

and began

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

. At the same time, he was invited by the Navy to teach military strategies to IDF soldiers. Although he was weak, he immediately took the job. On 28 May 1999,

Alex Tal Alex Tal (Hebrew: אלכס טל; born 1946 USSR) was the Commander of the Israeli Navy. Naval career Alex Tal made aliyah from the Soviet Union in 1964 and enlisted in the Israeli Navy. After his training he served on the first Missile boat the I ...

, Commander of the

, personally called to inform Barkai that the American search team had found submarine

INS Dakar INS ''Dakar'' ( he, אח"י דקר) was a diesel–electric submarine in the Israeli Navy. The vessel, a modified World War II British T-class submarine, had previously been of the Royal Navy. She was purchased by Israel from the Government o ...

, which had sunk three kilometers underwater on its way to Israel, killing all crew members, including Barkai's brother, Maj. Avraham Barkai. That same day Barkai committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

. His friend

Yigal Tumarkin Igael Tumarkin (Hebrew: יגאל תומרקין; 23 October 1933 – 12 August 2021) was an Israeli painter and sculptor. Biography Peter Martin Gregor Heinrich Hellberg (later Igael Tumarkin) was born in 1933 in Dresden, Saxony, Germany. His fa ...

said that "you couldn't hate Barkai and it was seven times harder to love him."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barkai, Michael 1935 births Romanian Jews 20th-century Israeli Jews Romanian emigrants to Israel Israeli Navy generals Recipients of the Medal of Distinguished Service Israeli military personnel who committed suicide Suicides by firearm in Israel 1999 deaths Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery