Eli Lavon

"For the old ones, memory is like a stack of china. If you try to pull a plate from the middle, the whole thing comes crashing down."

Background
Eli Lavon was a survivor of Operation Wrath of God, where he had been an ayin, or tracker, for Gabriel Allon. He had retired from active service with the Office and operated Wartime Claims and Inquiries. He is the best surveillance agent the Office has ever created. According to Ari Shamron, Lavon could disappear while shaking your hand.

Eli explained financial documents Gabriel Allon found in Augustus Rolfe's villa and traced information about paintings. Eli later assisted in the abduction of a Swiss official.

Eli pointed out to Gabriel that the Vatican was the one government that the Nazis did not want voicing objections to the Final Solution to the Jewish Question. Eli called the Vienna Station of the Office. Ephraim Ben-Avraham was sent to meet Gabriel and take him to the secure communications facility in the Israeli embassy.

Eli was nearly killed when Wartime Claims and Inquiries was bombed. The bombing set off the inquiry that led to the discovery that Erich Radek was still living in Vienna. Eli was hospitalized for a time in Vienna but, at Gabriel Allon's urging, was moved to Jerusalem.

Eli told Gabriel Allon that none of his problems trying to find Khaled al-Khalifa would not have happened if Gabriel had let Eli watch his back. Gabriel agreed and asked Eli to find Khaled; Eli was successful.

Eli conducted a surveillance.

Eli Lavon, who is an experienced financial investigator, starts analysing the the financial numbers of Holding JML Enterprises. During his investigation he moves down from his office to the room 456C where the rest of Gabriel's team joins him.

Trivia

 * Eli is one of the most prominent Bible archaeologists of Israel
 * He had a lecturing position at Hebrew University, that he gave up to return to the Office when Gabriel became director
 * He is the best surveillance agent the Office has ever produced
 * In his office he keeps a glass cabinet filled with findings from excavations
 * Eli is not a very talkative man
 * He suffers from numerous disorders related to stress