Ziva David

Ziva David זיוה דויד
Cote de Pablo as Ziva David
First appearance	"Kill Ari (Part 1)"
Portrayed by	Cote de Pablo
In-universe information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Mossad Officer (on assignment with NCIS)
Nationality	Israeli

Ziva David (Hebrew: זיוה דויד, pronounced [ˈziva daˈvid], Ziva: "Brilliance", David: "Beloved") is a fictional character from the NCIS television series by CBS Television. She is portrayed by Cote de Pablo. The character was introduced to the series in the episode "Kill Ari (Part 1)." De Pablo became a regular cast member from episode "Silver War" onwards.

Biography

Officer Ziva David is a Mossad agent from Israel sent to NCIS following the murder of Special Agent Caitlin Todd by a rogue Mossad operative named Ari Haswari. She was Ari's control officer and half-sister; they shared the same father, who was the Deputy Director of Mossad (he has since been promoted to Director). During the episode "Kill Ari (Part 2)", NCIS Special Agent Gibbs is cornered by Ari, but then Ziva emerges and kills Ari. After Ari's death, she asked to be assigned as a liaison for Mossad at NCIS, where she subsequently joined Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs' team, even though Gibbs opposed this at the time.

Ziva is Jewish, though the episodes' plots rarely draw attention to this, and it is only lightly touched on during the series. However, in the episode "Tribes", she does clearly state in a Muslim mosque that she is Jewish during an investigation of a Marine's death. While Ziva remarks that pigs' feet "are not kosher" , she clearly does not observe the dietary laws (she is seen eating non-kosher food during other episodes). She is consistently seen wearing the Star of David on her necklace, but does not appear to follow Orthodox Jewish strictures (for example, she works on Saturdays). De Pablo describes the character as someone who is "completely different from anyone else on the show" and that because "she's been around men all her life; she's used to men in authority. She's not afraid of men."

When her younger sister, Tali, was killed in a Hamas suicide bombing, Ziva was already a Mossad operative at the time and states that she was in the Israeli army for an unspecified time, whilst claiming that no one recruited her, that she volunteered for Mossad.

In the episode "Blowback", when confronting Goliath on the plane about Aries, Ziva reveals she is a Scorpio.

Ziva speaks at least seven languages fluently: English, Hebrew, Spanish, Arabic, Turkish and French, including Belgian French. She is also able to speak basic German, Italian and Russian. A running gag in the series is Ziva frequently misusing, misunderstanding or just completely mangling American slang, cultural references, and colloquialisms. On one of these occasions, however, she excuses it by saying "I speak five languages," creating a slight inconsistency.

In the episode "Judgment Day (Part 2)", Ziva's liaison position was terminated under the orders of newly appointed Director Vance following the death of Director Shepard. In the episode "Last Man Standing", she returns to NCIS. Leon Vance, the newly appointed Director, asked Ziva's father if she could return.

Ziva and Tony DiNozzo often try to outdo each other in verbal and physical competitions. Ziva taunts Tony in much the same way Caitlin Todd did before she was killed. Some aspects of Ziva's personality disturb him, such as the fact that she sleeps with a gun in her hand, which he learned on an undercover assignment as married assassins in the episode "Under Covers".

In the episode "Shalom", Ziva learns that the Mossad, apparently on her father's orders, has been spying on her for several months; the surveillance reveals that Tony has been visiting Ziva at her apartment at least once a week for the past 3 months. Donald Bellisario, the now former writer and producer of the show, commented that throughout Season 4, Ziva realizes her feelings for Tony, and this later becomes apparent to others when she often expresses concern for him, as in the episodes "Angel of Death" and "Bury Your Dead".

In Season 5, Ziva continues to bait Tony with her loaded comments, talking about soulmates in the episode "Designated Target". This season showed hints that Tony may return some of those feelings to Ziva, when he exhibits signs of jealousy when she hooks up with a witness in the episode "Recoil". In the episode "Judgment Day (Part 2)", Tony and Ziva have a conversation about Jenny and Gibbs' 'inevitable' relationship while working together in Paris.

In the episode "Last Man Standing", Ziva is working undercover in Morocco after her liaison position with NCIS is terminated by Director Leon Vance. After Gibbs notices an unconscious Ziva on the news following an explosion where she was working, it is revealed that Vance had deliberately sent Ziva back to Israel in order to help uncover a mole within NCIS itself. Ziva's father, Mossad Director Eli David is introduced shortly before Ziva returns to the United States, seemingly having a friendship with Director Vance.

Season 6 also shows signs of feelings between Ziva and Tony becoming less subtle. Ziva and Tony admit to Gibbs that they miss each other, albeit nonchalantly in the episode "Last Man Standing". When Ziva accompanies Gibbs onto the USS Seahawk as part of an investigation, she notices Tony has three pictures of her in a bikini pinned up in his room. They also share some tense moments onboard together. The banter between them remains the same, but particularly in the episode "Nine Lives", Tony shows an interest in Ziva's vacation to Israel despite the fact that she's only just returned. Upon finding a picture of a man on her desk, Tony's interest is deepened, not knowing that the man in the picture was Ziva's Mossad partner. Tony also tells her to have a good trip (Nisiya Tova) in Hebrew demonstrating his need to win her over. In the episode "Cloak", when placed in a war game, Tony attempts to save Ziva from being shot (not knowing the bullets were fake) by guards who were confronting them. In doing so, Tony is set upon by the guards. When Tony was knocked unconscious in the fight, Ziva assaulted the guards before being knocked unconscious. They share an angry conversation in the elevator later on in the same episode, where Tony accuses Ziva of disobeying Gibbs' orders by engaging in combat. Defending her actions, Ziva more or less reveals that she only fought because she saw that Tony was injured. They both reveal that they are "tired of pretending". Tony explains that he is talking about the mole hunt, which required the team to withhold information from each other, but Ziva states no such modifiers. In the following episode "Dagger" Tony reveals he has knowledge of a tattoo Ziva has in an intimate place on her body.

The episode "Dagger" shows Ziva's empathetic side towards children. When Agent Lee's sister is left an orphan at the end of the episode, she and Tony look after her in the NCIS building. Ziva is shown taking care of Amanda at her desk, watching over as she draws, while Tony brings her breakfast. As Gibbs explains to Amanda that her sister would not be coming back, Ziva is shown to be emotionally affected by it. Tony notices that Ziva is upset but instead of approaching her, he glances at her sympathetically.

In the episode "Road Kill", Tony asks Ziva to go to a midnight screening of Goodfellas with him, but she declines, instead, to practice her air guitar, an idea suggested by Tony.

In the episode "Silent Night", Ziva and Tony were shown to be following a Vietnam veteran at a War Memorial. Although Ziva has been teasing Tony about a former flame who has since remarried to a metro detective, she asks him if he ever regrets not having a wife and children around Christmas. Tony avoids the question and makes an excuse to leave.

In the episode "Aliyah", Ziva is called home to Israel where her father Eli David, the head of Mossad, says that he does not know if he can trust her and wants her to remain in Israel. Ziva tells Gibbs she does not trust Tony and can not work that way. Hence, she stays in Tel Aviv with her father and Mossad. The very last scene of this episode reveals Ziva being tortured for information regarding NCIS by an unknown kidnapper.

External links

• Ziva David - CBS's Official NCIS Wiki