Rafael Eitan

Rafael “Raful” Eitan, born at moshav Tel Adashim in 1929, fought in nearly every Israeli war from 1948 onwards. He was wounded in the head in the battle for the San Simon monastery in Jerusalem in 1948, was decorated with the Medal of Courage after being wounded in 1955, and commanded the 890th Paratroop Battalion in the airborne operation at the Mitla Pass on 29 October 1956. In October 1973 he commanded the 36th Division, whose stand halted the Syrian offensive on the Golan Heights — one of the decisive defensive battles of the Yom Kippur War. He served as the eleventh IDF Chief of Staff from 1978 to 1983, later sat in the Knesset and held ministerial office, and died in 2004 at the port of Ashdod.