Rafael Eitan

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Rafael Eitan, Chief of General Staff.jpg
Rafael Eitan (2002)

Rafael "Raful" Eitan ( Hebrew רפאל איתן; born on January 11, 1929 in Tel Adashim ; died on November 23, 2004 in Ashdod ) was an Israeli officer , most recently in the rank of Lieutenant General ( Rav-Aluf ) and Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces , as well as a politician and member of the Knesset .

Military career

Early years

Rafael Eitan (1948)

Eitan was a young officer in the Palmach and took part in the War of Independence . He fought in Jerusalem and was wounded in the fighting for the San Simeon Monastery in April 1948.

In the Sinai campaign of 1956, Eitan was the commander of the 890 Paratrooper Battalion in Ariel Sharon's 202nd Paratrooper Brigade , and took part in the attack of October 29, 1956 on the Mitla Pass . During the Six Day War (1967) he commanded the paratroopers in the Gaza Strip and was wounded in action.

In 1969 he was appointed chief of infantry units and later served as division commander . In this position he stopped the Syrian attack in the Golan Heights in the Yom Kippur War (1973) and was then appointed commander in the northern area of ​​command and promoted to major general (Aluf).

Chief of Staff

On April 1, 1978 Eitan was promoted to general and appointed by Ezer Weizmann to chief of staff of the armed forces .

Eitan began his tenure with symbolic steps to increase the discipline and effectiveness of the Israeli army. This included wearing the beret and collecting empty cartridge cases after the shooting. Furthermore, Eitan reduced the size of the military units. He oversaw the withdrawal of the army from Sinai after this area was returned to the Egyptians. He and Ariel Sharon arranged for the Israeli settlement of Jamit in Sinai to be demolished in April 1982 to prevent former Israeli residents from attempting to return there illegally.

As chief of staff, Eitan was known for his “ Raful Youth ” project, which was supposed to integrate young people from poor or difficult backgrounds, train them in professions and curb juvenile delinquency.

Lebanon War

On June 3, 1982, the Abu Nidals military group carried out an assassination attempt on Shlomo Argov , the Israeli ambassador in London . The Israeli air force then bombed Palestinian settlements in Lebanon , which in turn triggered Palestinian attacks on villages in northern Israel. The Lebanon War began on June 6, 1982 . The Israeli plan was to evict the PLO from the Israeli border and allow the phalangist militia Bachir Gemayels to control southern Lebanon. The plan failed. During the war, the Israeli army faced the Syrian army as well as Palestinian units and various militias. She became involved in house-to-house fighting and attempted to hit the PLO headquarters in Beirut .

Israel was able to achieve some military successes, such as the elimination of the entire air defense of Syria in the first days of the war under the command of the Air Force Major General David Ivry . But it also suffered failures, such as the battle for Sultan Yacoub.

The operation was supposed to be limited, but under the command of Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, the army crossed the planned 40 km deep zone and advanced further north into Lebanon. The rising Israeli losses, along with the Sabra and Shatila massacres , led to mass protests among the Israeli public against the war. A cease-fire was agreed and the Kahan Commission was set up to investigate the case. This concluded that Israel was not directly responsible for the massacre, but that senior Israeli officials such as Sharon and Eitan were partly at fault. Begin reacted to domestic political pressure: Sharon lost his post as defense minister and became a minister without portfolio. Eitan stayed in office. Nevertheless, from then on he was identified with the failed Lebanon war.

Political career

After retiring from the army in April 1983, Eitan went into politics.

Eitan was seen as a conservative who pursued repressive policies towards the Palestinians. He established the ultra-nationalist Tzomet party , which represents conservative views in defense and foreign policy, but acts secularly in domestic policy. He was elected to the 11th Knesset and was Minister of Agriculture between 1988 and 1991. In the 12th Knesset, the Tzomet party achieved its best result with eight seats. Eitan refused to join Yitzhak Rabin's coalition .

From then on, Eitan had problems controlling his party, which led to some members of the Tzomet Knesset joining other parties. When Rabin presented the Oslo Accords to the Knesset , they could only pass the vote with the support of the two Tzomet MPs Alex Goldfarb and Gonen Segev , who were offered ministerial posts by Rabin.

In 1996 Tzomet joined Likud and Gescher . The parties won the elections and Benjamin Netanyahu became Israeli Prime Minister . Eitan was promised the post of Minister of Homeland Security, but a criminal investigation into him prevented his nomination. The investigation ultimately acquitted Eitan. The case was shelved in 1998. In the meantime, Eitan served as Agriculture and Environment Minister and even as Deputy Prime Minister.

In 1999 Tzomet could not win a Knesset seat and Eitan withdrew from politics.

death

On November 23, 2004, Eitan visited the Mediterranean port of Ashdod, where he was working on a project to build breakwaters. The exact circumstances of his death are not clear, but he believed he slipped on a breakwater and fell into the sea. It was only after an hour that he was spotted by helicopters and identified by naval divers. All attempts at resuscitation failed.

The father of two deceased sons left his wife and three daughters.

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Mordechai Gur Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces
1978 - 1983 		Moshe Levi
personal data
SURNAME Eitan, Rafael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Eitan, Raful (nickname); רפאל איתן (Hebrew)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Israeli general and member of the Knesset
DATE OF BIRTH January 11, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Tel Adashim
DATE OF DEATH November 23, 2004
Place of death Ashdod