Rafael Eitan
For the Mossad operative in-charge of capturing Adolf Eichmann, former Director of the Israeli Bureau of Scientific Relations and current leader of Gimla'ey Yisrael, see Rafi Eitan Rafael Eitan (
Hebrew: רפאל איתן) (
January 11,
1929 –
November 23,
2004) was an
Israeli
general, former
Chief of Staff of the
Israeli Defence Forces and later a
politician, a
Knesset member, and
Minister of Agriculture. He was known by the nickname of "Raful" (רפול). Rafael Eitan was born in
1929 in
Afula, in the
British Mandate of Palestine and was raised in
Moshav Tel Adashim, where he spent most of his life.
Early battles
Eitan was a junior officer in the
Palmach, the
Haganah's elite strike force and took part in the
Israel's War of Independence. He fought in
Jerusalem and received a head wound in the battle for the San Simon Monastery in April
1948. Later he served with the 10th Infantry Battalion in the Lachish-Negev region.
In 1954, Captain Eitan became commander of a Paratroops company in
Unit 101. During Operation Kinereth in 1955 he received a
machine gun wound to his chest, while participating in a military raid into
Syria.
In the
1956 Sinai war, Major Eitan was the commander of the
890 Paratroopers battalion and participated in the
October 29 parachute attack on the Mitla Pass.
During the
Six Day War in early June 1967, as a Colonel he commanded the
Paratroopers Brigade on the
Gaza front, and received a severe head wound in combat while approaching the Suez Canal.
In
1969 he was appointed head of infantry forces and later served as a division commander. As a division commander, Brig. General Eitan stopped the
Syrian attack into the
Golan Heights during the October 1973
Yom Kippur War. He personally used a
bazooka to destroy several advancing Syrian tanks. After the war he was appointed to commander of the northern command and promoted to the rank of
Major General.
Chief of Staff
On
April 1,
1978, Eitan was promoted to the rank of
General and was appointed by
Ezer Weizman to be the
Chief of Staff of the
Israel Defense Forces.
Eitan opened his term with symbolic steps to increase
discipline and efficiency in the IDF. Two of these orders were requirements to wear the military beret and collect
empty ammunition cases after rifle range practice. Eitan also cut the size of the military.
Eitan oversaw the redeployment of the IDF outside
Sinai after the
Sinai peninsula was handed back to
Egypt. He and Sharon demolished the Israeli city of
Yamit in Sinai in April
1982 after the Egyptians refused to pay for its infrastructure.
As Chief of Staff, Eitan was best known for the
"Raful Youth" project, in which young persons from low
socio-economic background and poor neigbourhoods were integrated into the IDF and were trained for professions that allowed them to stay out of crime, poverty, and other troubles. The IDF also helped those youth to graduate their
highschool studies.
He approved the Israeli
air attack on
Iraq's
Osirak nuclear reactor complex on June 7, 1981.
Lebanon War
On
June 3,
1982,
Abu Nidal's militant group gravely wounded Israel's
ambassador in
London,
Shlomo Argov as a result of an assassination attempt. In response, the
Israeli Air Force bombed
Palestinian refugee camps in
Lebanon. The bombing caused Palestinian militants to shell Israel's northern settlements and resulted in the
June 4th order to begin the
1982 Lebanon War. The operation was launched on
June 6 and soon became a full-scale
invasion. The Israeli plan was to drive the
PLO away from the Israeli border and help
Bachir Gemayel's
Phalangist militia take control of south Lebanon. During the war, the IDF faced the
Syrian military, Palestinian militants and various
militias, such as
Hezbollah. The IDF engaged in
urban warfare and shelled
Beirut to hit PLO headquarters.
The IDF achieved some impressive military results - such as wiping out the entire Syrian air defense system in the first days of the war, under the command of
IAF Major general David Ivri. But it also had some failures, such as the battle of
Sultan Yaakov.
The operation was designed to be limited - both in time and area - but the IDF advanced far beyond the planned "40 kilometers" under the command of Defense Minister
Ariel Sharon. The mounting Israeli casualties in Lebanon, combined with the
Sabra and Shatila Massacre, resulted in mass protests by the Israeli public against the war - which resulted in a cease-fire agreements and the establishment of the
Kahan Commission to investigate the massacre. The commission concluded that Israel was not directly responsible for the massacre but that senior Israeli officials such as Sharon and Eitan were culpable in part. Although Sharon was removed as Minister of Defense, the committee recommended no sanctions against Eitan.
Nevertheless, Eitan's reputation became identified with the failed
Lebanon War.
After his retirement from the army, on April
1983, Eitan entered
politics.He had the image of the
sabra Israeli who connected to his roots and to the land. His background in
agriculture and hobbies such as
wood work and
flight contributed to this image, which attracted many in the Israeli public.
Eitan was considered to be a conservative advocating repressive policies toward the Palestinians. On
April 12,
1983 Eitan told Israel Radio that Palestinians who endanger cars on the road should be treated aggressively and their freedom of movement should be narrowed until they will be like "poisoned cockroaches in a bottle".
Eitan initially joined the "Tehiyah Party" and was first elected to the Knesset in 1984. Later he established an ultra-nationalist party called "
Tzomet" which had conservative views on defense and foreign policy but a liberal domestic platform. He was elected to the 11th assembly of the
Knesset and served as
Agriculture Minister between
1988 and
1991. In the 12nd assembly of the Knesset, Tzomet achieved a record of eight seats. Eitan refused to join
Yitzhak Rabin's coalition.
However, Eitan had troubles in controlling his party, resulting in some Knesset members splitting from Tzomet to join other parties. When Rabin presented the
Oslo II Accords to the
Knesset, it managed to pass only with the support of
Alex Goldfrev and
Gonnen Segev - two Tzomet members who were promised ministries by Rabin in return for their support. They were later indicted for unrelated crimes.
On
1996, Tzomet joined the
Likud and
Gesher parties to win the national election making
Benjamin Netanyahu prime minister. Eitan was promised the ministry of internal security, but a criminal investigation against him blocked his nomination. The investigation eventually cleared Eitan and the case was closed on
1998 due to "lack of evidence". In the meantime, Eitan served as agriculture and environment minister and also as a deputy prime minister (1998-1999).
In
1999 Tzomet failed to win any Knesset seats and Eitan retired from politics.
On
November 23,
2004, Eitan arrived at the
Mediterranean sea port of
Ashdod, where he was working on a port renewal project. A large wave swept him from a breakwater into the sea and he was lost in rough waters for over an hour. Eitan's body was recovered by the
Israeli Navy and he was pronounced dead after efforts to revive him failed. [
1] [
2]
When we have settled the land, all the Arabs will be able to do about it will be to scurry around like drugged cockroaches in a bottle. (New York Times, 14 April 1983.)
We declare openly that the Arabs have no right to settle on even one centimeter of Eretz Israel... Force is all they do or ever will understand. We shall use the ultimate force until the Palestinians come crawling to us on all fours. (Gad Becker, Yediot Ahronot 13 April 1983; New York Times 14 April 1983.)
*
List of Israel's Chiefs of the General Staff*
Eitan (disambiguation)*
Haaretz - Short Biography*
Rafael Eitan (Israeli
Knesset website)
*
Biography (Jewish Virtual Library)
*
A Soldier's Story: The Life and Times of an Israeli War Hero by Raful Eitan*
Generals of Israel, by Moshe Ben Shaul, Hadar Pub., 1968.
*
Bravery in Battle, by D. Eshel.
