Eliezer (Eli) Marom ("Chayni") (, born in 1955,

Sde Eliezer Sde Eliezer (, lit. ''Eliezer's Field'') is a moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Hula Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mevo'ot HaHermon Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Sde Eliezer was founded in 1950 by re ...

Upper Galilee The Upper Galilee (, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; , ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Part of the larger Galilee region, it is characterized by its higher elevations and mountainous terra ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

) is the former Commander of the

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy (, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'', ; ) is the Israel Defense Forces#Arms, naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in the Mediterranean Sea theater as well as the Gulf of Eilat and the Red Sea th ...

serving from 2007 to 2011. As of 2015 he serves as the head of the

Israel Airports Authority The Israel Airports Authority (IAA, , ''Reshut Sdot HaTe'ufa BeYisra'el''; ) was founded in 1977 as a Government-owned corporation, public corporation mandated by the Israel Airports Authority Law. The authority is responsible for the management ...

. Born in

, Israel, Marom is partly of Chinese descent. He held the rank of

Aluf ( 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. In addition to the ''aluf'' rank, fo ...

in the Israeli Navy.

Early life and family

Marom was born and raised on

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

, in the

Hula Valley The Hula Valley () is a valley and fertile agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water that used to be Lake Hula before it was drained. It is a major stopover for birds migrating along the Great Rift Valley between Africa ...

. His father Erik was a German-born Jew and his mother Leah (originally Chai Li) was born in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, the daughter of a

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

woman and a

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

man who had

converted to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( or ) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. "Thus, by convertin ...

. His parents met when his father escaped to China as a refugee from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was the seventh of his parents' eight children and was born weeks after his family immigrated to Israel. Marom studied Marine Engineering in the Israel Nautical College in

Akko Acre ( ), known in Hebrew as Akko (, ) and in Arabic as Akka (, ), is a city in the coastal plain region of the Northern District of Israel. The city occupies a strategic location, sitting in a natural harbour at the extremity of Haifa Bay on ...

. While he studied there, one of his commanders called him ''"Chayni"'' (Hebrew: "Chinese; Chinaman") because of his eyes, and that became his nickname. He began his career in the

in 1975 after completing a naval officers course.

Career

Over the course of his career, Marom has held most of the senior positions in the Israeli Navy. According to ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'', Marom is widely praised for his abilities as a commander, but concerns about his character led to him being passed over as head of the Navy in 2004. However, Marom was finally appointed to the post in 2007. He was charged with rehabilitating the Navy after the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

, in the wake of a

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

missile strike on INS ''Hanit''. In March 2009, Marom was embroiled in a scandal after he was caught partying at a

strip club A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. MK

Nachman Shai Nachman Shai (; born 28 November 1946) is an Israeli journalist and politician who served as Israel's Minister of Diaspora Affairs. He previously served as a member of the Knesset and its Deputy Speaker, as well as the IDF spokesman. In April ...

called for Marom's resignation and IDF Chief of Staff

Gabi Ashkenazi Gabriel "Gabi" Ashkenazi (; born 25 February 1954) is an Israeli politician and former military leader. He previously served as the minister of foreign affairs. He was the Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 2007 to 2011. ...

verbally rebuked him for his behavior. Ashkenazi did not, however, attach a reprimand to Marom's personal file. Marom was still head of the navy during the 2010

Gaza flotilla raid Ships of Gaza flotilla raid, Six civilian ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla were raided by Israel on 31 May 2010 in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine of the flotilla passengers were killed during the raid, with thirty woun ...

. In June 2011, as the

Free Gaza Movement The Free Gaza Movement (FGM) is a coalition of human rights activists and pro-Palestinian groups formed to break Egypt and Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip and publicise the situation of the Palestinians there. FGM has challenged the Blockad ...

was preparing to launch Freedom Flotilla II to Gaza, Marom was quoted as calling the action a 'hate flotilla'. After leaving the navy in 2011, he became involved in many projects, and serves as senior director at Seagull Maritime Security. In October 2013, he was briefly detained for questioning over his role in the Gaza flotilla raid when he arrived at

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

, during a visit to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In June 2025, he described Israel’s handling of the

Gaza Freedom Flotilla The 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla was a small fleet of ships by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH) carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials with the ...

as a failure, arguing that it should have been resolved through diplomacy rather than military action, as had been done in previous cases. Marom emphasized his view that the

Gaza blockade The restrictions on movement and goods in Gaza imposed by Israel date to the early 1990s. After Hamas took over in 2007, Israel significantly intensified existing movement restrictions and imposed a complete blockade on the movement of good ...

, imposed in 2009 and "recognized by the whole world", is essential to Israel’s security. He warned that allowing the ship through undermined the blockade and could open the door to Iranian vessels reaching Gaza within months.

Personal life

Eliezer Marom is married to Ora and has three children.

Timeline

Source: * Israel Navy Advanced Command Course * National Defense College * U.S. Navy Senior International Defense Management Program *

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

* MA in Social Sciences from

Haifa University The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an indepen ...

* 1975 Joins Israeli Navy as

Engine Officer An engine officer or simply engineer, is a licensed mariner qualified and responsible for operating and maintaining the propulsion plants and support systems for a watercraft and its crew, passengers and cargo. Engineering officers are usually ...

* 1999 promoted as Rear Admiral and appointed Commander of the

Haifa Naval Base The Haifa naval base is a base of Israeli Navy, located in Haifa, Israel, and constitutes the main naval base of the Israel Defense Forces. The base is the hub of Israel's naval force. The naval base has submarines, missile boats and other vessel ...

and the North Arena * 2001 appointed the Head of Naval Operations of the Israel Navy * 2003 appointed Chief of Staff of the Israel Navy * 2004-2005 IDF representative at the

United States Joint Forces Command The United States Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) was a Unified Combatant Command of the United States Department of Defense. USJFCOM was a functional command that provided specific services to the military. The last commander was Army Gen. ...

. * August 2005 appointed Defense Armed Forces Attache at the Embassy of Israel in Singapore * October 9, 2007 promoted to vice admiral and Commander in Chief of the Israel Navy.

References

{{authority control 1955 births Living people Harvard Business School alumni Chinese Jews Israeli Jews Israeli Navy generals Israeli people of Chinese descent Israeli people of Chinese-Jewish descent Israeli people of German-Jewish descent Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent University of Haifa alumni Naval attachés