Born in the Brit Ahim
youth village near
Bustan HaGalil, Avital moved to the
Katamon neighbourhood of
Jerusalem as a child. He attended high school in the
Hebrew University Secondary School. During the
1982 Lebanon War he served as commander of Battalion 202. Between 1992 and 1994 he was commander of
Sayeret Matkal. For the
2009 Knesset elections, he was placed thirty-second on the Kadima list. Although he failed to win a seat, he entered the Knesset as a replacement for the deceased
Ze'ev Boim in 2011. Avital was placed seventh on the Kadima list for the
2013 elections, losing his seat as the party was reduced to two MKs. He holds a BA in mathematics and computer science, a master's degree in history and philosophy of science, both from
Tel Aviv University, as well as a PhD in logic and philosophy from
Columbia University. ==References==