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| By Israel Insider staff and partners November 23, 2004 |
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Rafael Eitan, farmer, former Israeli army chief and right-wing political leader, drowned Tuesday after being swept into the stormy Mediterranean, police said. Known for his fighting courage and his love for the land of Israel, he also left a legacy of advancing the education of underprivileged young people. He was 75.
Eitan was standing on a breakwater near Ashdod port in southern Israel when he was swept away, Israeli media said. According to preliminary findings, police said, Eitan apparently tripped and fell into the water at around 8:00 a.m. when the pier on which he stood was hit by a giant wave.
He had been working on the port renewal project in recent years.
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"This is a Clash of Civilizations. We are a foreign civilization here in the Middle East, and Islam will never accept this foreign entity here, and never accept that we have a sovereign, independent state, and we even defeat them in wars. They will never agree to this."
Rafael Eitan, January 2004.
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The former general was lost in the waters for more than an hour, paramedic Yair Avishara told Army Radio. After Eitan's body was pulled out of the water, efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, Avishara said.
Eitan, known for his blunt language and gruff manner, served in the Israeli military for 37 years, including as army chief of staff from 1978 to 1983. He was wounded four times in combat, and soldiers who served under him described him as utterly fearless.
After leaving the army, he formed the nationalist Tzomet party. He served as agriculture and environment minister in the 1990s.
Eitan was a political hardliner who opposed handing over land to Arabs.
Tributes to fighter and farmer
"The man was courageous, a true leader, and embodied the true qualities of a fighter. It might sound strange but it suits him to die at work," said former president Ezer Weizman, who as defense minister appointed Eitan to head the IDF.
"He always went, as Napoleon once observed about one of his generals, to the sound of the cannons," Weizman added.
Weizman said "Raful" was one of the most interesting characters in Israeli history. "He will always be remembered as a symbolic fighter that embodies the Jewish people's struggle in the Land of Israel," he said.
PM Ariel Sharon said in a statement:
"Raful's is the story of this country. From his youth, Raful had a brave and generous heart, and with uncompromising dedication and constant readiness, served the nascent nation. His life's story is characterized by a warm and courageous bond to the land; he recognized that we have to fight in order to defend the existence of the State of Israel. He played a main role in all of Israel's wars and in the struggle against terrorism; he left -- for future generations -- glorious chapters in brotherhood-in-arms and Israeli heroism."
"Raful understood the centrality of the IDF in social life and as Chief-of-Staff initiated a brilliant educational enterprise, in the framework of which a second chance was given to thousands of young people to join the cutting edge of Israeli society and take a productive part in building a better society. Today, those thousands of 'Raful's kids' are
proud citizens who take a full part in Israeli life."
"Even after his discharge from the IDF, in his public activities, Raful continued to be a different and unique voice in the battle for leadership of the state.
"Throughout his life, Raful never forgot his great love -- the land and labor. Thus, to our sorrow, he met his end."
"Today, the State of Israel lost a brave fighter, commander and leader. I lost a comrade-in-arms and a friend."
Opposed Sharon's recent policy
Eitan was strongly opposed to Sharon's disengagement plan, and rejected efforts to reach accommodation through peace talks and compromises with the Arabs. In one of the few interviews he gave in 2004, he told Tel Aviv
"All these efforts will come to naught. With the Arabs it will never be possible to make peace. It is like in [Samuel] Huntington's book -- this is a Clash of Civilizations. We are a foreign civilization here in the Middle East, and Islam will never accept this foreign entity here, and never accept that we have a sovereign, independent state, and we even defeat them in wars. They will never agree to this."
Asked what would have to happen for him to change his mind, and admit that the Arabs really wanted to make peace, Raful answered: "If all the Arab leaders say, 'We're sick of you, we're taking some distance from you, we'll give you territories in exchange for peace, and leave us alone.' On that day, I'll admit that I was wrong."
"What, they should give us territories in exchange for peace?" he was asked. "Why not?" Raful responded. "Why should we, who are so small, give land to those who are so big, for something uncertain? We should have said this from the outset. But did anyone ever think that this [exile-minded] leadership would make such a request?... A leadership that does not insist on its honor, and has no national honor. We should pay for having defeated them in wars that they started?! Where's the logic, the straight thinking, the common sense?"
Raful had sharp words for the left-wing and HaShomer HaTza'ir [young guard] socialist/communist movement: "I can count 30 kibbutzim of HaShomer HaTza'ir that are sitting on Arab land. You know what, this is the most hypocritical movement that I can imagine... When Stalin died, they lowered the flag in the kibbutzim to half-mast. Sir, this just shows that the true root is missing."
Towards the end of the interview, Raful said, "Forget about politics. Let's just summarize the two most important things for me in this interview. First, that all the people you photographed on the breakwater should appear in the newspaper. Otherwise, they'll tell me, 'They take pictures of us, and we want to show the pictures at home, but there's nothing there.' And second, the seagulls too."
Today the seagulls and his fellow laborers witnessed the disappearance of an Israeli hero from the world, but not from the nation's memory.
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