Ben-Besht began his military career as a draftee in 1970 but then volunteered to attend the naval officer's course. Through the 1970s he commanded a number of vessels including a
Saar 2 and a
Saar 4 missile boat. During the 1980s he moved into the area naval instructional, and from there he continued to advance up the
chain of command, becoming the Israeli Navy's Chief of Staff in 2002 and commander in September 2004. As Naval Commander, Ben-Besht dealt with
Palestinian arms smugglers moving equipment by boat from
Egypt into the
Gaza Strip. ==References==