Eitan Haber ( he, איתן הבר; 12 March 1940 – 7 October 2020) was an Israeli journalist and publicist, known for his writing on military and security issues, and for his longtime association with the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Biography

Eitan Haber was born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. He came from a Revisionist Zionist family. When he was eleven, he secretly joined the

Betar The Betar Movement ( he, תנועת בית"ר), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. Chapters sprang up across Europe, even during World War II. After ...

youth movement but when his father found out, he was furious. At that point, he joined the religious

Tzofim Tzufim ( he, צוּפִים), or Tzufin (), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located north of Alfei Menashe and Qalqilyah and northeast of Kfar Saba, it is organised as a community settlement and falls under the jurisdiction of Sho ...

Journalism and media career

In 1958 he was drafted into the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

and was posted as a reporter for the Bamahane military newspaper. During his service he met and befriended the commander of the Northern Command, Yitzhak Rabin. On his discharge from the IDF in 1960, he joined ''

Yedioth Ahronoth ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' ( he, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת, ; lit. ''Latest News'') is a national daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Founded in 1939 in British Mandatory Palestine, ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' is the largest paid n ...

'' as a correspondent on military issues. He was also an investigator for several Israeli television programs and edited and presented radio programs on

Israel Army Radio Army Radio ( he, גלי צה"ל lit. IDF waves) or Galei Tzahal, known in Israel by its acronym Galatz ( he, גל"צ), is a nationwide Israeli radio network operated by the Israel Defense Forces. The station broadcasts news, music, traffic repor ...

. In late 1985 he was appointed by Rabin, then Minister of Defense, to be his special media adviser. After Rabin's withdrawal from the government in 1990, he returned to Yedioth Ahronoth. When Rabin was elected Prime Minister in 1992, he was appointed to be an adviser and bureau chief. He wrote many of Rabin's speeches, was part of the team that secretly negotiated the Israel–Jordan Treaty of Peace, and organized Rabin's official travels abroad, including to the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993;

and Rabin's reception of the

Nobel Prize for Peace The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolo ...

. On the night of 4 November 1995, he delivered the official government statement regarding Rabin's death:

The government of Israel announces in dismay, in great sadness, and in deep sorrow, the death of prime minister and minister of defence Yitzhak Rabin, who was murdered by an assassin, tonight in Tel Aviv. May his memory be blessed.

After Rabin's death, he returned to his journalistic career. He wrote several books and coauthored others with Michael Bar-Zohar,

Ze'ev Schiff Ze'ev Schiff ( he, זאב שיף‎; 1 July 1932 - 19 June 2007) was an Israeli journalist and military correspondent for ''Haaretz''. Schiff moved to Mandatory Palestine with his family in 1935. He studied Middle Eastern affairs and military hi ...

Yossi Melman Yossi Melman (Hebrew: יוסי מלמן, born December 27, 1950) is an Israeli writer and journalist. He was an intelligence and strategic affairs correspondent for the ''Haaretz'' newspaper, and in 2013 he joined '' The Jerusalem Post'' and its ...

and Ehud Ya'ari.

Business career

He was the President and CEO of Geopol Ltd. since 1996. Since 2001, he served as CEO of Kavim Ltd., and was a member of the board of directors of

Africa Israel Africa Israel Investments Ltd. (AFI Group) is an international holding and investment company based in Yehud, Israel. The group consists of several private and public companies active in areas such as real estate, construction, infrastructure, m ...

Ltd. and "Israel Experience Co." Since 2002, he was a director of Ampal Ltd. He was also a board member of the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Death

In September 2019, Haber was diagnosed with

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowe ...

, which forced him to retire from

. He died on 7 October 2020 in Ramat Gan at the age of 80 following complications from the disease. He was also suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Published works

* * * * *Michael Bar-Zohar and Eitan Haber (1983) ''Massacre in Munich'' Lyons Press,

References

External links

* *
Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haber, Eitan 1940 births 2020 deaths People from Tel Aviv Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli journalists Israeli civil servants Israeli businesspeople Israeli non-fiction writers People with Parkinson's disease Deaths from cancer in Israel Deaths from colorectal cancer