Eitan Ben-Eliahu
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Eitan Ben-Eliahu is a former Israeli Air Force officer.[1]
Air Force career
Ben-Eliahu served as a Phantom Squadron Commander during the Yom Kippur War.[1] In 1981, he took part in the Israeli air strike against Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor.[2]
In 1987, he rose to become IAF Head of Operations. In 1996, he was appointed Air Force Commander, a post he held for four years.[1]
Business interests
From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Ben Eliahu was president and general partner of East West Ventures Ltd. He is founder and CEO of Sentry Technology Group, based both in the US and in Israel. Sentry focuses on the adaptation of unique Israeli technologies for use in defense and homeland security, in the US and worldwide.[1]
On Iran
In February 2012, the New York Times suggested Ben-Eliahu was among Israeli military figures who were unenthusiastic about an attack on Iran:
- Alex Fishman, a military analyst for the newspaper Yediot Aharonot, wrote on Sunday that a former commander of the air force, Gen. Eitan Ben-Eliahu, likened the situation to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 when President John F. Kennedy threatened to bomb Cuba if Soviet nuclear missiles were not removed from there.
- The Cuban crisis stood on three legs, he said: a naval blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States, military threats and a diplomatic channel of dialogue that allowed the Soviets ultimately to back down. The Iranian crisis, General Ben-Eliahu was quoted as saying, has two of those legs — sanctions and military threats — but it is far from clear that it has the needed diplomatic channel.[3]
A March 2012 RUSI commentary on the possibility of an air strike against Iran, noted:
- Former IAF commander Major General Eitan Ben Eliahu, another participant in the Osirak air raid, publicly stated that there are too many Iranian sites for Israel to target on its own. 'If this is operation is to be conducted, it must be done in continuing waves [of air strikes]', said Ben Eliahu. 'Therefore, we are talking of an international effort.' The IAF conducts exercises with more than a dozen foreign air forces, but for any strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, the co-operative effort that really matters is with the United States. [2]
Affiliations
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Museum Co-Chair, Major-General (res.) Eitan Ben Eliahu, madatech.co.il, accessed 4 August 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Andrew Brookes, What Would an Air Attack on Iran Look Like?, rusi.org, 30 March 2012.
- ↑ Ethan Bronner, When Talk of War Transcends Idle Chatter, New York Times, 5 February 2012.
