Eitam, Efraim (Effie)

(1952- )

   Born in Kibbutz Ein Gev, Eitam studied at Haifa University and the Royal College of Defense Studies in London. A career officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), he served as commander of an armored division in the IDF Northern Command and commanded the Israeli forces in southern Lebanon in 1989-99. He also participated in Operation Entebbe in July 1976, commanding an elite commando unit. He was awarded the medal of valor for courage under fire in the Yom Kippur War (1973). He retired from the IDF in 2000 with the rank of brigadier general.

   In April 2002, Eitam was named leader of the National Religious Party (NRP), succeeding Yitzhak Levy, who had stepped aside in favor of Eitam. At the same time, Eitam was appointed minister without portfolio in the governing coalition headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In September 2002, he was appointed minister of national infrastructures. On 28 February 2003, Eitam was named minister of housing and construction, however he resigned this posting on 8 June 2004 to protest the proposed evacuation of settlers in Prime Minister Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan (see UNILATERAL DISENGAGEMENT [HITNATKUT, TOKHNIT HAHITNATKUT]). In February 2005, Eitam was ousted as NRP leader in a policy dispute. He and Levy split from the NRP to form their own minifaction in the Knesset called the National Religious Zionist Renewal Party; this faction was subsequently integrated with the National Union (NU) Party. Eitan was reelected to the 17th Knesset (2006) on the NU-NRP joint list.