Rafi Eitan, the famed Israeli spy who led the team that captured Nazi war criminal and Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann, died Saturday in Tel Aviv at the age of 92.
Eitan is viewed as one of the fathers of Israeli intelligence and is a hero to many in Israel. He commanded the eight-man Mossad team that flew into Argentina where the infamous SS officer was hiding and extracted him, bringing the Nazi back to Israel to stand trial.
Eichmann was found guilty and executed in 1964. In Gordon Thomas’ book, Gideon’s Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad, Thomas cited Eitan’s words to Eichmann in the execution chamber.
“Eichmann looked at me and said, ‘Your time will come to follow me, Jew,’” Eitan is quoted as saying, “and I replied, ‘But not today, Adolf, not today.’”
Eitan was not just involved in Eichmann’s apprehension. He also assisted Israel with a number of other national security and intelligence projects, including its nuclear program, and the assassination of the Palestinians involved in the 1972 murder of Israeli athletes at the Olympics.
Eitan was also revealed to have been the handler of Jonathan Pollard, the U.S. Navy intelligence analyst accused of handing over secrets to Israel in the 1980s.
Among those offering their condolences was Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.
“We have lost a brave fighter whose contribution to Israel’s security will be taught for generations to come. Rafi Eitan was a born fighter who stuck to his mission and to what he knew to be right. Our heads are bowed today in his memory, and in deep appreciation,” Rivlin tweeted.
We have lost a brave fighter whose contribution to Israel’s security will be taught for generations to come. Rafi Eitan was a born fighter who stuck to his mission and to what he knew to be right. Our heads are bowed today in his memory, and in deep appreciation,
— Reuven Rivlin (@PresidentRuvi) March 23, 2019
Despite the intrigue, Eitan was humble, joking that he was only “half of James Bond.”
