Rafi Eitan

Rafael "Rafi" Eitan ( Hebrew רפאל (רפי) איתן; born on November 23, 1926 in Kibbutz En Harod ; died on March 23, 2019 in Tel Aviv ) was an Israeli politician and head of the Lakam secret service .

Life

Eitan joined the Haganah in 1938 and switched to Palmach in 1944 after graduating from high school . Towards the end of the Second World War he was involved in various secret operations to rescue Jewish refugees from the areas occupied by Germany ( Alija Bet ).

In the Israeli War of Independence he served with the Aman and achieved the rank of captain . After that he was one of the first Mossad employees and moved to Schin Bet , where he became head of operations. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the London School of Economics .

In 1960 he led the Mossad operation to arrest Adolf Eichmann . In 1978 he became Prime Minister Menachem Begin's anti-terrorism advisor . In 1981 he was instrumental in planning the destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor Osirak . In the same year he became chief of the Lakam .

Due to the Pollard affair , he resigned as chief officer in 1985, Lakam was dissolved. He had recruited Pollard, a member of the US Navy, who sent Israel a plethora of classified documents, as head of the "Bureau for Scientific Relations," which spied on weapons systems in friendly states. Eitan opened a new sales channel for PROMIS (Prosecutor's Management Information System) with the help of press tycoon Robert Maxwell . In 1985, Eitan became head of Israel's state-owned chemical company , which was alienated by the Pollard affair in the United States.

After leaving there in 2003, Eitan went into business for himself and developed, among other things, extensive agricultural activities in Cuba .

Eitan was elected to the Knesset as Chairman of the Pensioners' Party in March 2006 . In the government of Ehud Olmert he was Minister for Pensioners. In 2009 his party missed re-entry into parliament.

Eitan was married and had three children.

As part of an event on the topic of anti-Semitism of the Alternative for Germany , Eitan sent a video message in February 2018 to the German government to stop what he believed to be the “Muslim mass immigration” to Europe. The Israeli ambassador to Germany, Jeremy Issacharoff , condemned Eitan's support for the AfD and called it “sad and shameful”. It is difficult for him to imagine that someone who once brought Eichmann to court could now recognize an alternative for Europe in those Germans who are proud of their Nazi past. Eitan later described his message as a mistake.

He is portrayed by Nick Kroll in the film Operation Finale about the arrest of Eichmann .

Rafi Eitan died on March 23, 2019 at the age of 92 in Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital .

Web links

Commons : Rafi Eitan - Collection of Images

Erich Follath : The Phantom of Dimona . In: Der Spiegel . No. 5 , 2004, p. 110 ff . ( online ).

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Short biography on the website of the Israeli Foreign Ministry
↑ https://www.wired.com/1993/01/inslaw/
↑ https://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/04/promis-government-inslaw
↑ US Jews outraged by Israel . In: Der Spiegel . No. 12 , 1987, pp. 172 ( online ).
↑ Israeli secret service agents hunted down Nazis - now he supports the AfD , on huffingtonpost.de, accessed on February 4, 2018.
↑ Adam Taylor: Ex-Israeli spymaster, who helped capture Adolf Eichmann, releases video in support of German far-right party . In: Washington Post . February 3, 2018, ISSN 0190-8286 ( washingtonpost.com [accessed February 4, 2018]).
↑ Ex-Mossad Agent Regrets Backing Far-right German Party With Nazi Roots , from haaretz.com, accessed on February 9, 2018.
↑ TOI staff: Rafi Eitan, ex-minister and legendary spy who captured Eichmann, dies aged 92. In: timesofisrael.com. March 23, 2019, Retrieved March 23, 2019 (American English).

personal data
SURNAME	Eitan, Rafi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Eitan, Rafael; רפאל איתן (Hebrew)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Israeli politician and former head of the Lakam secret service
DATE OF BIRTH	November 23, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH	En Harod
DATE OF DEATH	23 March 2019
Place of death	Tel Aviv-Jaffa

[mfa.gov-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Short biography on the website of the Israeli Foreign Ministry

[2] ttps://www.wired.com/1993/01/inslaw/

[3] ttps://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/04/promis-government-inslaw

[4] US Jews outraged by Israel . In: Der Spiegel . No. 12 , 1987, pp. 172 ( online ).

[5] Israeli secret service agents hunted down Nazis - now he supports the AfD , on huffingtonpost.de, accessed on February 4, 2018.

[6] Adam Taylor: Ex-Israeli spymaster, who helped capture Adolf Eichmann, releases video in support of German far-right party . In: Washington Post . February 3, 2018, ISSN 0190-8286 ( washingtonpost.com [accessed February 4, 2018]).

[7] Ex-Mossad Agent Regrets Backing Far-right German Party With Nazi Roots , from haaretz.com, accessed on February 9, 2018.

[8] TOI staff: Rafi Eitan, ex-minister and legendary spy who captured Eichmann, dies aged 92. In: timesofisrael.com. March 23, 2019, Retrieved March 23, 2019 (American English).