Quds city, Nov 23, SPA -- Rafael Eitan, a former Israeli army chief and leader of a hawkish political party, drowned Tuesday after being swept into the stormy Mediterranean, police said. He was 75. Eitan was standing on a breakwater near Ashdod port in southern Israel when he was swept way, Israeli media said. Eitan was working on a port renewal project at the time of his death. The former general was lost in the waters for more than an hour, paramedic Yair Avishara told Army Radio. After Eitan's body was pulled out of the water, efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, Avishara said. Eitan, known for his blunt language, served in the Israeli military for 37 years, including as army chief from 1978 to 1983. He was wounded four times in combat. After leaving the army, he formed the ultranationalist Tzomet party. He served as agriculture and environment minister in the 1990s.
