up by the Mossad in an unidentified European city so as to avoid any
connection with Israel. Harel was well aware that Israel would be vi-
olating Argentinean sovereignty by abducting Eichmann. Moreover,
Argentina—and South America generally—had become a safe haven
for Nazis and their sympathizers since the end of World War II. The
Argentineans could cause trouble for the Israelis if they got wind of
the plan.
The Israeli agents began to fly in from all over the globe. No two
came from the same city. They rented safe houses and constantly
changed cars to mislead anyone who might be watching them or who
might get suspicious. Harel himself arrived in Argentina with rising
star Rafael (Rafi) Eitan to supervise the capture. Harel correctly pre-
dicted that Eichmann’s family would not go public about his disap-
pearance because it would almost certainly expose his true identity.
On 11 May 1960, the Mossad operatives were ready to go into ac-
tion. They had been shadowing Eichmann’s every move for some
time. They knew that he arrived home from work at about 7:40 P.M.,
and they were in place by 7:35 P.M. Two Mossad operatives pretended
to tinker with their car engine. Another car was parked about 30 yards
behind the first one, also with the hood up and the occupants fiddling
with the engine. A cyclist stopped to offer them assistance, an offer
that was politely but firmly refused. At 8:10 P.M., Eichmann alighted
from a bus and began walking toward Garibaldi Street. The Mossad
agents grabbed Eichmann and put him into a car.
Eichmann was kept for a week in a room in the safe house. In or-
der to move him out of the safe house to board an El Al flight, Eich-
mann was dressed in a spare El Al crew uniform and injected with a
drug to make him sleep. Rafi Eitan and the team of Mossad agents
accompanied him onto the plane, all dressed in El Al crew uniforms.
At five minutes past midnight on 21 May 1961, the plane carrying
Eichmann took off for Tel Aviv.
After a lengthy trial, Adolf Eichmann was found guilty of crimes
against humanity and was executed a year later, on 31 May 1962.See
alsoKASTNER, ISRAEL.EILAT’S SINKING.On 12 October 1967 the Israeli Navy destroyer
Eilatwas on a routine patrol starting at Ashdod port in Israel. It con-
tinued off El Arish and ended at Port Said at the northern entrance to84 • EILAT’S SINKING06-102 (02) A-G.qxd 3/24/06 7:23 AM Page 84