| Native Name Lang: | he |
| Birth Date: | 6 March 1944 |
| Birth Place: | Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine |
| Death Place: | Ramat Gan, Israel |
| Office1: | Ministerial roles |
| Suboffice1: | Minister of Science & Technology |
| Subterm1: | 1997–1998 |
| Suboffice2: | Minister of Improvement of Government Services |
| Subterm2: | 2009–2013 |
| Office3: | Faction represented in the Knesset |
| Suboffice3: | Likud |
| Subterm3: | 1984–2013 |
Michael Eitan (he|מיכאל איתן; 6 March 1944 – 8 November 2024) was an Israeli politician. A member of the Knesset for Likud from 1984 until 2013, he also served as Minister of Science & Technology between July 1997 and July 1998 and Minister of Improvement of Government Services from 2009 until 2013.
Eitan was born to Israel Meir ben Zvi Hirshprung, a merchant and industrialist, and lawyer Esther Nicha Hirshprung, who made Aliyah to Israel from Poland. He later dropped the name Hirshprung and made "Eitan" his surname. He completed his studies at Municipal High School Heh in Tel Aviv. In 1963, he enlisted in the IDF, served as an NCO in the Ordnance Corps and in the reserves as a soldier in an infantry battalion.In the late 1960s, he began studying law at Tel Aviv University, which he did not complete. There he began political activity in the Herut-Gahal student cell together with Roni Milo and Michael Kleiner. The cell won the elections for the Tel Aviv University Student Union, which was considered rare for a right-wing cell in Tel Aviv, and Eitan gave up the leadership of the union to Kleiner.[1] During his activity, Eitan confronted members of Matzpen[2], acted against beach pollution[3] and in student matters.[4] From 1971 to 1984, he was publicly active, including as an advisor to the Tel Aviv mayor on welfare affairs (1974-1979)[5] and later also in the Likud movement as the coordinator of the party's next generation.[6] During this period, Likud's youth under his leadership (1979-1982) promoted the construction of a new settlement called Kokhav Yair as part of the Star settlements (establishment of seven settlements west of the Green Line, adjacent to it).
In 1984, he was first elected to the 11th Knesset and served continuously as a Member of the Knesset until 2013.In the 11th Knesset, he was a member of the Education and Culture Committee and the Knesset Committee. Eitan was among the harshest critics of Attorney General, Yitzhak Zamir, whom he accused of being motivated by political considerations in prosecuting right-wing figures while turning a blind eye to left-wing offenses, and demanded his resignation.[7] [8] Eitan even filed a police complaint against Zamir for exposing state secrets in the Bus 300 affair.[9]
In the 12th Knesset, he served on the Finance Committee and Knesset Committee and established the Land of Israel Front lobby through which he greatly assisted settlement in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. In the 13th Knesset, he continued serving on the Finance Committee and Knesset Committee, and also served as Deputy Chairman of the Likud parliamentary group, and as opposition coordinator in the Knesset. In the 14th Knesset, he served as Chairman of the Likud-Gesher-Tzomet faction and Coalition Chairman, as well as a member of the Knesset Committee, Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and Economic Affairs Committee. Midway through this Knesset, about six months after Ze'ev Binyamin Begin's resignation and after a rotation agreement was reached with Silvan Shalom, on July 9 1997, he was appointed Minister of Science and Technology in the 27th Government of Israel, serving until July 13 1998.[10] From that day until the end of Benjamin Netanyahu's 27th government, he served as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.
Eitan is identified among other things with computers and the Internet and worked to promote the integration of these two technologies in Israel's governmental, political and public system. He was among the first MKs to establish their own website, through which citizens could maintain contact with him and send complaints, requests and suggestions.
Starting from mid-15th Knesset, he served as Chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee where he worked on many issues, including fighting corruption and preparing infrastructure for an Israeli constitution.
In the 16th Knesset, he was heavily involved in the disengagement plan, and despite supporting the plan, he worked to protect the rights of protesters from among the disengagement opponents and of the evacuees, who in his view were harmed by the wording of the "Disengagement Plan Implementation Law" and the discriminatory treatment by the justice system. Among other things, he was among the first to disprove the claim that acid had been thrown by the barricaded residents in Kfar Darom, contrary to police and media reports. His claim was later confirmed by the hospital.[11] Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin noted him as one of the outstanding MKs of this Knesset.
In the 17th Knesset, he served as chairman of the State Control Committee, replacing Zevulun Orlev in the position.
In the elections for the 18th Knesset, he was placed 16th on the Likud's list. During the first month of the 18th Knesset's term, Eitan filled the role of Speaker of the Knesset until Rubi Rivlin's election to this position on March 30, 2009.
Eitan holds the record for delivering the longest filibuster speech in Knesset history, when explaining his reservations to the state budget for 1993. Eitan stood at the plenum podium for 10 hours and 7 minutes, and unusually, most of the speech dealt with the subject at hand - the state budget.
With the establishment of the 32nd government of Israel led by Benjamin Netanyahu, Eitan was appointed Minister for Improvement of Government Services, a position that had not previously existed in Israeli governments.
Among the government ministers, Eitan stood out for his work in his ministry. He published his pay slip and ministerial calendar to the public,[12] promoted a program for clear presentation of the state budget to citizens,[13] established a new website displaying current statistics about Israel's status,[14] and initiated a simple way to track the implementation of the Trajtenberg Committee recommendations.[15] In 2012, Israel jumped to 16th place in the UN's e-government rankings, up 10 places from the previous ranking published in 2010. The organization gave Israel a special award for its progress in this area, which Eitan received on behalf of the state, and wrote that Israel had improved its e-government services development and became the leading country in Western Asia.[16]
During the government's discussion of Defense Minister Ehud Barak's recommendation to appoint Yoav Galant as IDF Chief of Staff, Eitan was the only minister who opposed the appointment, due to suspicions of planning and building violations concerning the Galant couple's estate in Amikam village.[17] Although the government approved the appointment, it was canceled after several months due to these suspicions.
After Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu and Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman announced their joint run in the elections for the 19th Knesset under a list called "Likud Beiteinu", Eitan was the highest-ranking figure from either party to oppose the move. He called it "the liquidation of Likud" and began collecting signatures from opposing central committee members aiming to hold a secret ballot.[18] Although he obtained 450 signatures, more than required for a secret ballot, a hasty open vote was held following a petition by the party's election committee. In this vote, the union was approved by an overwhelming majority.[19]
Eitan did not enter the 19th Knesset in 2013 due to not being placed in a realistic position in the Likud primary elections, after 28 consecutive years in the Knesset.[20]
Eitan was known for holding liberal positions within Likud. Among other things, he opposed the use of capital punishment and requiring licenses for those seeking to be journalists.[21]
In 1988, he headed the Land of Israel lobby in the Knesset, but over the years he became a dovish figure in Likud. He was among the few who supported the disengagement plan who did not leave Likud to establish the Kadima party. In early 2010, he criticized the re-establishment of the Land of Israel lobby in the Knesset and participated in a Geneva Initiative conference where he said that "talking about Greater Israel now is fraud."[22]
In 2005, following the Supreme Court's ruling that overturned the Knesset Committee's decision not to remove MK Michael Gorlovsky's immunity in the Double voting affair, Eitan criticized the court's intervention, arguing that "the Supreme Court has joined the delegitimization campaign that certain circles are conducting against the Knesset. This is an escalation in the court's judicial activism against the Knesset that could lead to confrontation."[23]
He strongly supported and assisted various e-government projects of the Public Knowledge Workshop, including Open Budget and the Trajtenberg Committee Tracking Project[24] in his role as Minister for Improvement of Government Services. After his term ended, it was claimed that government activity on this issue declined[25] .
Eitan was divorced and father to three daughters. He lived for many years in Kokhav Yair, which he also helped establish. In January 2008, he moved to Sderot where he lived until 2012. Initially planning to live there for a year as a gesture of solidarity with the city and its residents, he chose to continue living there while maintaining residence in central Israel. He lived in Ramat Gan with his partner, Professor Karine Nahon.
In 2017, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. In 2021, he underwent deep brain stimulation surgery which brought significant improvement to his health condition.[26]
Eitan passed away on November 8 2024, at the age of 80.[27]