[MT2008]

The Desert Eagle wasn't created by the Israelis. It was designed by Magnum Research, right here in the U.S. of A., and is sold and marketed by them here. IMI (now IWI) simply produces the gun because Magnum Research doesn't have the facilities/equipment to do it themselves. IMI pretty much only designs weapons for the IDF's purposes, and the DE is quite obviously not a military service-type pistol.

The Desert Eagle is huge because of its gas system and rotating bolt, and because of its fixed barrel. The idea behind the gun was that it could fire Magnum-caliber cartridges with improved accuracy (again, because of the fixed barrel). I don't think practical applications (military or otherwise) were really what its designers had in mind. I don't even think it's ever been marketed as a hunting pistol (.357 and .44, the first two calibers in which it was available, were both obsolete as hunting cartridges when the DE was introduced in the mid-80s). It's really just a "mine is bigger than yours" kind of gun, same as the Automag was.

Also, is the muzzle flash really that bad on a DE? I have fired the .50 AE Mark XIX (which belonged to the boyfriend of a woman who worked in my office), and I don't remember the flash being "blinding". I do remember how LOUD the damned thing was - there were people on the range shooting .308 and .30-.06 rifles, but the Eagle was by far the loudest gun in there.