Raphael was born in Russia in 1915 and raised in Egypt. In Cairo, he taught in the Jewish community and was secretary of the Tzohar (the Revisionist Zionists).

The fact that Raphael was a Lehi supporter with extensive connections in Cairo together with his vast knowledge of the city, assisted Lehi member to locate and obtain storage spaces and he even made his home available for meetings.

For the planned assassination of Baron Moyne on November 6^th, 1944, he found a room in the home of a local Jew for Eliyahu Hakim and Eliyahu Beit Tzuri, who were sent there to carry out the assassination. He also joined them for weapons inspection near the pyramids.

After Eliyahu Hakim and Eliyahu Beit Tzuri who were captured right after the assassination and put to death by hanging, he went to grieve at their graves and the undertaker there, who had connections with the CID, reported him to the police. He was arrested and tortured. On September 1^st, 1945, ten months after his imprisonment, and near the time of his trial, he committed suicide in his prison cell. His burial place is unknown.

His name is commemorated in the Garden of the Missing in Action on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.