Effie Eitam
| Effi Eitam | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Date of birth | 25 July 1952 |
| Place of birth | Ein Gev, Israel |
| Knessets | 16, 17 |
| Faction represented in Knesset | |
| 2003–2005 | National Religious Party |
| 2005–2006 | Renewed National Religious Zionist Party |
| 2006–2008 | National Union |
| 2008–2009 | Ahi |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 2002 | Minister without Portfolio |
| 2002–2003 | Minister of National Infrastructure |
| 2003–2004 | Minister of Housing and Construction |
Efraim "Effi" (Fine) Eitam (Hebrew: אפרים "אפי" איתם, born 25 July 1952) is an Israeli politician and former military commander. A former leader of the National Religious Party, he later led a breakaway faction, Ahi, which merged into Likud in 2009. He served as a member of the Knesset between 2003 and 2009.
A Hardal Israeli, he was born in kibbutz Ein Gev, and received a secular education. When he was old enough, Eitam joined the Israeli Defense Forces. Eitam has M.A. in Political Science and in International Relations. He is also a former student of the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He is married, has eight children, and lives in the Israeli moshav of Nov in the Golan Heights.
Eitam was drafted into the IDF in 1971, and volunteered for the Shayetet 13 naval commando force, but was dismissed after a year, and did his military service in the Golani Brigade. He was sent to Officer Candidate School and in 1973 was commissioned as a an infantry officer and return to the Golani Brigade. During the Yom Kippur War He served as a platoon Leader in the Brigade's 12 battalion and fought with his sergeant to stop Syrian tanks from penetrating the Golan Heights's Nafah base, using 3 Bazooka bombs and a heavy machine gun, and later rescued the wounded from Nafah. For his heroism, he has earned Israel's Medal of Distinguished Service. Later on Eitam led the Brigade's Reconnaissance company during Operation Entebbe. Afterwards, he commanded Golani Brigade's 12 battalion in counter-guerrilla operations in South Lebanon and during the 1982 Lebanon War he led an officers' school battalion and a brigade. During the first Intifada, he commanded the Givati Brigade. In 1988, Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin ordered the Israeli Army to beat Palestinian rioters. Eitam was heard over a radio telling his troops to beat and break the bones of a 21-year-old Palestinian prisoner named Ayyad Aqel. They beat him to death. An IDF court-martial convicted four of his soldiers, who testified against him. The Military Advocate General severely reprimanded Eitam, and recommended that he never be promoted. Despite that, the IDF's Chief of General Staff, Ehud Barak, decided to promote him to the rank of Brigadier General. During the years 1997-1999, he commanded the 91st Division in counter-guerrilla operations in South Lebanon. He quit the Army in December 2000.
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