Eitan resigned from the Mossad in the early 1970s in disappointment
at not being promoted to its directorship. In 1976, when Ariel Sharon
was appointed adviser on security to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, he
made Eitan, a close friend, his assistant. Eitan left for private business
after Sharon ended his job as adviser, but had no success.
In July 1978 Prime Minister Menachem Begin appointed Eitan his
adviser on counterterrorism. His reputation in the ISA and the
Mossad made him the perfect coordinator between the two organiza-
tions on matters of counterterrorism. During this phase of Eitan’s ca-
reer, the Mossad succeeded in killing Ali Hassan Salamehin Beirut.
After Sharon was appointed minister of defense in 1981, he again
found a place for Eitan, as director of the Bureau of Scientific Liai-
son(LAKAM). In this position, Eitan set in motion the Pollard affair:
he recruited Jonathan Jay Pollardas a “walk-in” volunteer, know-
ing the risks of activating an American Jew as a spy in the United
States. With the approval of the IDF chief of the General Staff, Eitan
made Israel Air Force pilot Colonel Aviam SellaPollard’s case offi-
cer. This operation proved a fiasco, and the affair led to the disband-
ing of LAKAM.EKSTEIN, ZE’EV.SeeKASTNER, ISRAEL.ELAD, AVRAHAM (AVRI) (1925–1993).Born Avraham Seidenwerg
in Vienna, in 1939 he immigrated to Palestine and changed his fam-
ily name to the Hebrew Elad. He served in the British army in World
War II and later helped the Mossad Le’Aliyah Bethin bringing Jews
to Palestine. Before the establishment of the State of Israel in May
1948, Elad served as a driver in the Palmah underground. Thereafter
he enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and reached the rank
of major, but was discharged and demoted to private after stealing a
refrigerator from his unit.
In 1952 Elad was recruited to Unit 131of the IDF for a risky es-
pionage mission in Egypt. Mordechai (Motke) Ben-Tsur, com-
mander of Unit 131, knew that Elad was then divorced and unem-
ployed and wanted rehabilitation in the army. Accordingly Ben-Tsur
decided that he would be the right man for this risky job, and in 1953
he was given command of a Jewish espionage network in Egypt. To
authenticate his cover story, Elad was sent briefly to West Germany,ELAD, AVRAHAM•8706-102 (02) A-G.qxd 3/24/06 7:23 AM Page 87