He graduated from the IDF Staff and Command College (1980), also
studied at the IDF National Security College (1986–1987), and earned
a bachelor’s degree in history from Tel Aviv University (1987). Before
his appointment as director of MI, his last field position, as a major
general, was as head of the IDF Ground Forces Command. Malka
served as director of MI from 1998 until 2002.
Malka’s career as director of MI coincided with the outbreak of the
second Palestinian uprising (the Al-Aqsa Intifada) and the 11 Sep-
tember 2001 terror attacks in the United States. These events required
MI to assess the Palestinian terrorist trends, U.S. moves in the Mid-
dle East, and their impact on Israel. In 1998, German President Ro-
man Herzog awarded Malka the Knight Commander’s Cross of the
Order of Merit “in recognition for his outstanding services to the Fed-
eral Republic of Germany.” In 2001 Malka was awarded the U.S. Le-
gion of Merit by President George W. Bush “for exceptionally meri-
torious conduct in the performance of outstanding service.”
After retiring from the IDF in 2002 Malka resumed his studies, work-
ing for master’s degrees in political science at the University of Haifa
and in business administration at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He
also joined the Elul Group as president and CEO in 2002.
MALKA, RAFI.Malka served as head of Israeli Security Agency
(ISA) operations division, head of administration division, and head
of protection in Europe. He resigned from the ISA after the Bus 300
Affairin 1984. In 1995, as a former ISA officer, Malka was a mem-
ber of the Internal ISA Committee on the Rabin Assassination.
MALKIN, PETER ZVI (1927–2005). Although born in Palestine,
Malkin spent his childhood in Zolkiewka, Poland. He returned to
Palestine in 1936, but more than 150 of his relatives, including his sis-
ter and her family, were murdered in the Holocaust. After the estab-
lishment of the State of Israel in 1948, he joined the Israeli Security
Agency(ISA). Later he moved to the Mossadand was the organiza-
tion’s chief of operations during the 1960s. Many covert actions in
which he played a key role may never be told. Eichmann’s Capture
was his best known success; in it, he became a legend as the agent who
physically detained the former Nazi officer. After Malkin resigned
from the Mossad, he wrote a book entitled Eichmann in My Hands.
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