Rafi Eitan
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Rafael Eitan (; 23 November 1926 – 23 March 2019) was an Israeli politician and intelligence officer. He also led Gil and served as Minister of Senior Citizens. He was in charge of the
Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...
operation that led to the arrest of Adolf Eichmann. He served as an advisor on
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
to
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Isra ...
, and in 1981 he was appointed to head the Bureau of Scientific Relations, then an
intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...
entity on par with
Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...
, Aman and Shabak. Eitan assumed responsibility for and resigned over the Jonathan Pollard affair, and the Bureau was disbanded. He was subject to an arrest warrant issued by the United States FBI. From 1985 until 1993, he was head of the government's Chemicals company, which was expanded under his leadership. After 1993, he became a businessman, noted for several large scale agricultural and construction ventures in
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
. He was the chairman of the Vetek (Seniority) Association – the Senior Citizens Movement.


Biography

Raphael (Rafi) Hantman (later Eitan) was born on
Kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
Ein Harod during the Mandate era. His parents were
Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
immigrants from Russia who came to Palestine in 1923. His father, Noah Hantman, was a farmer and poet, and his mother Yehudit Volwelsky was a social activist. They had four children, Rafi, Oded, Rina and Ami (Yechiam) and lived in Shalom, later Ramat HaSharon, then a small settlement of 100 families. Eitan went to a regular public junior high school, but finished his high school studies at the Agricultural School in Givat HaShlosha in 1940 before going to the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
for his BSc in Economics. Eitan was an avid sculptor. Over the 30 years that he sculpted, Eitan produced over 100 pieces. He had a one-man show at the offices of the high-tech company "Brown". Eitan died at Ichilov Hospital in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
on 23 March 2019, at the age of 92. His funeral took place the following day. He was buried in Netanya in a civil ceremony.


Military career

Eitan joined the
Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...
and then the Palmach, the elite unit of the Haganah, upon completion of high school in 1944. Through clandestine operations, he was to assist the illegal immigration of
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
refugees from
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, who were fleeing
Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
, into Palestine. It was also during this time that he met
Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...
, who would later become Israeli Prime Minister. He also took part in a raid on the Atlit detainee camp to free illegal Jewish immigrants being detained by the British, the Night of the Bridges, and the November 1946 killings of two Templers to deter the rest of the German Templer community from returning to their homes in Palestine following
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. His most famous operation at this time was blowing up the British radar on
Mount Carmel Mount Carmel (; ), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (; ), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. A number of towns are situat ...
near the port city of
Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
, which was being used to track ships carrying illegal Jewish immigrants. To reach it, Eitan had to crawl underground through sewers, thus earning the name 'Rafi the Stinker', which would differentiate him in later years from the other
Rafael Eitan Rafael "Raful" Eitan (; 11 January 1929 – 23 November 2004) was an Israeli general, former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (Ramatkal) and later a politician, a Knesset member, and government minister. Early life Rafael Eitan was ...
, a well-known Israeli
Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...
and politician. While on an operation to assist illegal Jewish immigrants, he was injured in a mine explosion while planting mines to prevent the British from interfering and was rendered almost totally deaf. He relied on hearing aids for the rest of his life. During the 1947-1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine and the
1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
Eitan served as a soldier in the
Yiftach Brigade The 11th Brigade (also known as the Yiftach Brigade) is a reserves unit in the Israel Defense Forces, composed mainly of fighters that completed their compulsory service in the Egoz Unit, Unit 621 – 'Egoz'. History In the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...
, participating in combat operations, and was wounded in combat on the day after Israeli independence was declared. He also served as an intelligence officer.


Intelligence career

From his service as an intelligence officer, he was propelled to commanding posts in the internal intelligence agency (
Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...
). Later, Eitan served as Chief of Coordination between Shin Bet and
Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...
. This position would allow him the biggest triumph in a post-Holocaust Israel: the capture of Adolf Eichmann. After Mossad located Eichmann and his family living in Argentina under assumed names, Eitan and his team were sent by the Israeli government on a covert mission to capture Eichmann and extract him to Israel, as it was unlikely the Argentine government would respond favorably to an extradition request. The mission was a major success. Eichmann later stood trial in Jerusalem for atrocities against the Jewish people during World War II. After being convicted by an Israeli court, Eichmann was executed. While working to apprehend Eichmann, Eitan personally vetoed a proposal to also capture and extract
Josef Mengele Josef Mengele (; 16 March 19117 February 1979) was a Nazi German (SS) officer and physician during World War II at the Russian front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, often dubbed the "Angel of Death" (). He performed Nazi hum ...
. Like Eichmann, Mengele fled to South America in 1945 and at the time was also living in Argentina while under Mossad surveillance. Eitan argued that redirecting the mission's focus to incorporate also capturing Mengele could jeopardize the larger goal of bringing Eichmann to justice. During 1964–1966, Eitan headed a two-year operation in which armaments sold and delivered by the Germans to the Egyptian government 'disappeared'. In those days, Israel had no peace treaty with Egypt. In 1968 Eitan, posing as an Israeli Ministry of Defense chemist, visited the U.S. Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC) nuclear fuel plant. It emerged that of highly enriched uranium had disappeared from the plant, and it was alleged that the material had been diverted to Israel in an operation that became known as The Apollo Affair.Jefferson Morley
''Rafi Eitan, spy at center of Israel’s great uranium heist from the U.S.,''
Mondoweiss 27 March 2019
Eitan was also involved in the planning and implementation of the attack on the
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
i Osirak nuclear reactor in June 1981. In June 1984, Eitan was responsible for an espionage operation against the United States during which he recruited Naval Intelligence Analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard to steal American intelligence material. The operation lasted eighteen months and was shut down after the arrest of Pollard, who was convicted and served 30 years of a
life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...
. Eitan continued his work in intelligence until 1972, when he left the organization and went on to the private sector, raising tropical fish and other agricultural ventures. But in 1978, the government of
Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Isra ...
, the then Prime Minister of Israel, called him back to be his advisor on terrorism, as Eitan was regarded and admired as one of the most respected experts in this field. In 1981, Eitan was named head of the Defense Ministry's Lekem, the Bureau for Scientific Relations, replacing Israeli spy-master Benjamin Blumberg, where he continued work on counter-terrorism. According to the British journalist, Gordon Thomas, Eitan then participated in a partnership between Israeli and U.S. intelligence during the early 1980s in selling to foreign intelligence agencies in excess of $500 million worth of licenses to a trojan horse version of the Washington, D.C.–based, Inslaw Inc.'s people-tracking software called PROMIS, in order to spy on them. In 1984, Lekem was put in touch with Jonathan Pollard, an American citizen, who worked on anti-terrorist activities at the US Naval Investigative Services. According to Jefferson Morley, Pollard was an agent run by Eitan. Pollard had contacted the Israeli government with top secret information on the terrorist activities of Israel's enemies. Jonathan Pollard was exposed and arrested in the US in 1985. His arrest revealed the existence of Lekem to US authorities. Also in California, a US Aerospace Engineer, Richard Kelly Smyth, the president of a company called MILCO, was indicted in 1985 for smuggling over 800
krytron The krytron is a cold-cathode gas-filled tube intended for use as a very high-speed switch, somewhat similar to the thyratron. It consists of a sealed glass tube with four electrodes. A small triggering pulse on the control grid, grid electrode s ...
s to Israel without the required US State Department Munitions Export License. Because of their potential for use as triggers of nuclear weapons, the export of krytrons is tightly regulated in the United States. A number of cases involving the smuggling or attempted smuggling of krytrons have been reported, as countries seeking to develop nuclear weapons have attempted to procure supplies of krytrons for igniting their weapons. Just before trial, and facing a possible 105 years in prison, Richard Kelly Smyth and his wife suddenly disappeared. Sixteen years later they were discovered and arrested while living as fugitives in
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,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, and extradited back to the United States where he was convicted in the case. The krytrons shipped by Smyth were sent to an Israeli company called Heli-Trading Ltd. owned by prominent Israeli movie producer Arnon Milchan. Before his prominent Hollywood career, Milchan had served for decades as a Lekem agent, under the direct command of Eitan's predecessor, Benjamin Blumberg. It later became clear that the company MILCO served as a Lekem front company for obtaining sensitive equipment, technologies and materials for Israeli secret defense-related programs, and in particular its nuclear program. The Israeli government asserted that the MILCO krytron incident was a simple mistake by the "exporter" MILCO, and that the Pollard operation was an unauthorized deviation from its policy of not conducting espionage in the United States, before an admission in 1998 of Israeli responsibility. In 1987 the Israeli government set up a commission to investigate Lekem's failure, which found it would be in Israel's interest to take responsibility for the Pollard case. In 1987 following the difficult Pollard and MILCO cases, the Israeli government decided to disband Lekem, whose functions were assigned to the Director of Security of the Defense Establishment, adding technical and scientific intelligence to its responsibilities which include internal investigations of the defense ministry. Following the disbandment of Lekem, Eitan was offered the position as head of the state-owned Israel Chemicals Corporation, from which he retired in 1993 at the age of 67. During his tenure, the company underwent a rapid expansion in terms of sales, development and manpower, making it the largest government-held firm in the country. In 1998 he appeared in the documentary special '' The Spy Machine'', produced by Open Media and Israfilm and shown on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
.


Advisor on counter-terrorism

Further revelations from the book ''Gideon's Spies:The Secret History of the Mossad'' by Gordon Thomas, describe how the
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
government in Britain during the mid-1980s developed a relationship with Eitan as an advisor to the
Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (MI numbers, Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of Human i ...
(MI6) on
counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...
operations in Northern Ireland. This relationship came to a head in 1985, when
Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...
agents helped track a
Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...
(IRA) bomb team in
Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
. The three-member IRA team was killed ( Operation Flavius) by the British
Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...
, under highly controversial circumstances. It was subsequently reported in British papers that Eitan and Mossad had played a surveillance role in the operation, and IRA command put out orders for assassination teams in Ireland and Britain to find and kill Rafi Eitan. Due to this threat of assassination, and the embarrassment of the Israeli government over Eitan's unauthorized relationship with the operation, Eitan left Britain and ended his relationship with Britain's intelligence services. This incident strained Israeli/British relations for several years.


Business career

In 1992, Eitan was approached to bid on a contract for an agricultural deal in
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, which involved the cultivation of the largest citrus grove cooperative on the island. After winning the bid, Eitan built a partnership with four other international entrepreneurs to run the deal. The company BM Group was incorporated in
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
, and traded with Israeli suppliers. Due to the success of the venture and the connections acquired, BM also won the contract to build the world trade center in
Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
Memorial at the center of the Old City of Havana. Recently, GBM was awarded the "Medal for Agricultural Work" by the Cuban government. In addition to this deal, BM has started expanding its business deals to the rest of
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
. It runs various agricultural projects in the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
, among others.


Political career

Eitan was asked to represent the pensioners' party Gil in the 2006 Knesset elections. The party went on to win seven seats, despite predictions that it would not secure more than three, at best, and would not pass the vote threshold, at worst. In the 2009 elections the party failed to cross the electoral threshold, and Eitan lost his seat. In February 2010, Eitan remarked ''"In principle, when there is a war on terror you conduct it without principles. You simply fight it."''. In 2018 Eitan caused surprise and shock in Israel and Germany when he publicly endorsed the far-right
Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...
(AfD) party. He said: “Please understand that all of us in Israel appreciate your attitude toward Judaism. In any case, I’m sure that if you work wisely strongly and most important realistically… I’m sure that instead of ‘Alternative for Germany,’ you might become an alternative for all of Europe.” Jeremy Issacharoff, Israel’s Ambassador to Germany, wrote: “It is hard to believe how the person who captured Eichmann … is able to praise German right-wingers who so admire the Nazi past and wish on us that they become the alternative of Europe! Sad and shameful.”


Published works

*''Ish Hasod'' ("The Secret Man"), 2020


References


External links

*
Bio: Rafi Eitan
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4 May 2006 *
Eitan vows to focus on pensioner's issues
Jerusalem Post, 29 March 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Eitan, Rafi 1926 births 2019 deaths Palmach members Alumni of the London School of Economics Elder rights activists Israeli Jews Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Leaders of political parties in Israel Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Government ministers of Israel Dor (political party) politicians People of the Shin Bet People of the Mossad