Ziva, Queen of Mossad

Jewishsightseeing.com, Jan. 4, 2006

By Donald H. Harrison

I caught up with the fact last night that the television series, "NCIS," has a new character, an exchange spy
from Israel's Mossad, who works on solving cases with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Played by
actress Cote de Pablo, this Ziva is a diva in the art of counter-intelligence and in interrogation.  She  is 
beautiful, smart as can be, and, just like the Israeli stereotype, a bit brusque and arrogant.  Of course, she's no
match for special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Marc Harmon), who not only is smart but has a sixth sense
about people—what in Yiddish, they call "the feel in the kishkes"—that enables him to figure out who's guilty and
who's being framed.

Or, at least, that's the way it was in an episode aired last night in which the NCIS staff, plus Ziva, were
investigating the disappearance of a highly secret and sensitive computer program, along with the kidnapping 
of a double PhD naval officer—and father of a cute youngster—from an amusement park.  Ziva, not one for
mushy sentiment, suspects the naval officer arranged his own abduction, whereas Jethro somehow knows 
better. As he temporarily serves as father for the young, brilliant boy, we see that Jetrho has a heart hidden
somewhere down deep.

The Israeli character works most of her magic off camera.  She comes up with some important information, 
through a contact—a mysterious friend in the intelligence community—who owes her a favor.  Moreover,
she breaks the case wide open by interrogating a woman involved in the case. We don't watch the actual
interrogation, but instead see the NCIS waiting patiently outside the interrogation room as Ziva does 
whatever she does.  Torture?  Psychological terror?  Old fashioned Talmudic reasoning?  We get to fill in
the blanks   The more we imagine, the more compelling becomes the Ziva character. This, in a way, reminded
me of the History Channel's essay the night before on Houdini, telling how he would go into a chamber or
behind a curtain to wriggle out of his handcuffs.  The longer he took, the more the suspense built.

It will be interesting to see how the Ziva  character develops.  Will she be reduced to a stereotype—a tough, clever,
brash Israeli, a Jamie Bondowitz figure?  Or will she become multi-dimensional, blooming perhaps into the
love interest that by now some viewers think Jethro Gibbs ought to have.  And, if so, will such a relationship 
alienate the anti-assimilationists in our community?  The NCIS writers have me intrigued.  I'll tune in—at least
for a few more episodes.