Effie Eitam

Effie Eitam (born 1952) is an Israeli politician and former Brigadier General in the Israeli Defence Forces. He was formerly known as Effie Fein.

Military Career

During his military career, Eitam was IDF company commander during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In 1976, he commanded an elite IDF commando unit during Entebbe rescue mission in Uganda.

Givati Affair

The Jerusalem post reported:

Fein was a Givati commander in February 1988, when he was heard over the military radio ordering his troops to use clubs to break the bones of two Gazan rioters at the start of the intifada. One of the two died from the beating. The incident occurred around the time then defense minister Rabin called on the IDF to break the bones of Palestinians actively involved in the intifada.

In the trial in 1990, four Givati soldiers under Fein's command, including two officers, were convicted of assault. While Fein avoided conviction, he was severely reprimanded by the IDF two years later for the beatings, and Judge Advocate-General Ilan Shiff recommended to Barak that Fein not be promoted.

Eitam was nevertheless promoted to brigadier general in may 1994, by Chief of Staff Ehud Barak, with the approval of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

In 2000, Eitam resigned from the army with the rank of brigadier general after then-IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz refused to promote him to major general.

Political Career

In 2002, after being elected chairman of the National Religious Party, Eitam was appointed minister without porfolio and National Infrastructure Minister in Ariel Sharon's government. He was a member of the Knesset from 2003 to 2009. From 2003-2004, he served as Housing and Construction Minister. In 2004, he quit Sharon's government in light of his objection to the Gaza disengagement plan.