Sarai Givaty-Luboschits (; ) is an Israeli actress, singer-songwriter, and model. As a musician, she is also known by her stage name ESH.
Early life Born Sarai Givaty (or Givati) in Tiberias, Israel, and raised to an Israeli family of both Sephardi Jewish and Mizrahi Jewish (Iraqi-Jewish and Moroccan-Jewish) descent. Her parents are Edna (née Elkayam) and Eliyahu Givaty. She has two sisters, one of whom is married to Israeli actor Guy Arieli. Givaty moved to the U.S. after her high school graduation.
She claims that she was discharged from the Israel Defense Forces after several days of military service, because of severe allergies to dust.
Career Givaty's first role was in a live sketch on the Israeli tonight show (Kol Layla) where she played an American reporter. The segment was very successful. On the final show, Israeli hush critic Raana Shacked called it "the pick of the show". Givaty continued shooting the segment even after she moved to New York City where she attended acting school at the HB Studios.
In 2005, Givaty was a part of a small group of well-known young adult television hosts who received the "Best Teen Show of The Year" from the Israel Golden Screen Award (Masah Hazahav) for hosting the show Exit on Arutz 10. Shortly thereafter, Givaty became a big name in the Israeli entertainment industry and received many large company endorsements.
A year later Givaty decided to explore her work options in Los Angeles. Upon her arrival, she quickly landed the lead role in a film called The Passage starring opposite Stephen Dorff. In 2007, the movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival where critics called Givaty's performance "star making".
Another notable project she has worked on was the lead in the Enrique Iglesias video "Somebody's Me".
In 2008, she played a Russian spy in the pilot episode of My Own Worst Enemy next to Christian Slater. In 2009, she was back in Israel to shoot yet another comedic role in TV series called The Pilot Wives.
In 2010, it was announced that Givaty would portray Mossad Officer Liat Tuvia for two episodes in the eighth season of NCIS. Then-executive producer Shane Brennan elaborated on the character's role in the story arc, saying that Liat's presence would leave series regular Ziva (Cote de Pablo), a former Mossad agent, feeling replaced "personally and professionally". In an interview after the first episode aired, Givaty commented, "Let's just say, Liat is a good guy at the end of the day. It's just that her ways are different. Like, she doesn't say 'Drop your weapon' before she shoots a terrorist. She just shoots him and says 'Drop your weapon'...So, yeah, she has her way, but at the end of the day, she's a good guy."
Givaty also plays piano and guitar in a band and has been playing concerts in both Israel and Los Angeles.
In 2014, she appeared in The Expendables 3 alongside Mel Gibson and Robert Davi.
In 2017, she co-starred in the romantic thriller film Body of Deceit, alongside Kristanna Loken.
Personal life Givaty married Israeli businessman Or Luboschits on September 5, 2014. In 2015, they had a baby son, Riff. In March 2018, she had her daughter, Kai. The four reside in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Remarks on Gaza genocide In an interview on Israeli channel i24NEWS, she was asked, in reference to the military actions in Gaza: "Is it possible not to feel upset about any child in the world who is crying?". In response, Givati openly advocated for the actions of the Israeli army, saying "I am upset. But at the same time, I understand that if we don't take action, this [Palestinian] child will grow up and become a 'terrorist'." Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, commented saying, "[t]his was also the argument presented by Nazi officials during the Nuremberg trials to justify their killing of children during the Holocaust."
Filmography + List of acting performances in film and television Title Year Role Notes and awards Exit 2003 Herself Host Kol Layla 2004 Stefanie/Hollywood Reporter TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 2006 Natal Peled TV series, episode "Happenstance" The Passage 2007 Zahara My Own Worst Enemy 2008 Female Russian Agent TV series, episode "Breakdown" The Pilot Wives 2009–2010 Daniela TV series, 125 episodes NCIS 2010 Mossad Officer Liat Tuvia TV series, 2 episodes Am Sgula 2011 Various TV series, 2 episodes The Legend of Hercules2014 Saphirra Film The Expendables 32014 Camilla Film Words with Gods 2014 The Jews are Coming 2014 Stav Burstein TV show Irreversible 2016 Hila TV series, 1 episode Body of Deceit2017 Sara Film State Rules 2018 Noga Gilboa TV series
References
External links
Sarai Givaty Official MySpace Sarai Givaty Official Site Art