WarSclerotic

Israel’s new “first pilot,” Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel, was appointed commander of the Israel Air Force in a ceremony that took place in Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz’s office in the Kirya Defense Ministry compound in Tel Aviv on Thursday. Defense Minister Ehud Barak was also at the event, and, together with Gantz and other general staff officers, congratulated Eshel.

Eshel replaces current IAF Commander Maj. Gen. Ido Nechushtan, who is retiring in May after four years in the post and a military career spanning 37 years. A ceremony marking the transfer of authority is scheduled for May 14 at the Hatzor Airbase in the center of the country.

Eshel, who until his new appointment was head of the IDF Planning Directorate, faces the possibility of having to conduct a military strike on Iran during his term.

“Maj. Gen. Ido Nechushtan is leaving behind him a strong and capable air force, having left his own stamp on many of its processes and methods of operation. We are facing significant challenges and are ready for any mission we will be asked to carry out,” Eshel said during the ceremony.

Nechushtan said, “The air force is a unit that is constantly at work, 365 days a year, from the Dan region to Eilat and everywhere else in the world, always thinking of Israel’s security.”

After congratulating Eshel, Barak said, “In the past two generations, the air force has become Israel’s primary deciding factor, and the spearhead of our power of deterrence.”

Gantz thanked Nechushtan for his many years of service and said, “We have the best air force in the world. It carries upon its shoulders a heavy, critical and urgent strategic weight.”

Eshel, 52, was born in Jaffa. He began his career as a Skyhawk pilot and led sorties during the First Lebanon War. During his service, Eshel piloted a range of aircraft including F-16, F-15, Kurnass, as well as Apache, Cobra and Sea Stallion helicopters and several lighter aircraft. He has logged more than 5,500 flight hours.

In 1991, Eshel was appointed to head the Barak flight squadron in Ramat David. Two years later he was promoted to head a Kurnass squadron at the Tel Nof base. In 1996, he headed operations in the Air Force Headquarters, which is considered a key position. Eshel consistently stood out as quick on his feet and as someone who got things done.

In 1999, when he was assigned to the Ramon IAF base, he was involved in a serious training accident that miraculously spared all involved: While training on an Apache helicopter, Eshel and a fellow pilot pushed the ordnance launch button, as per protocol, in an open area, to ensure that the aircraft was not armed. To their horror, a projectile was fired, striking a hill near a group of reserves soldiers. Luckily, no one was hurt.

Two years later Eshel commanded the Tel Nof base and in 2004 he was promoted to the third most senior position in the force: commander of the IAF’s Air Division. It was while he was in this position that the Second Lebanon War erupted (which was initially waged almost entirely from the air). According to foreign reports, it was during his tenure as commander of the Air Division that Israel allegedly bombed a secret Syrian nuclear facility at Dir al-Zur.

Eshel was also a candidate for the IAF commander post in 2008, but it was Nechushtan who was ultimately appointed. Eshel then replaced Nechushtan as head of the Planning Directorate.

The story most frequently associated with Eshel, however, is the non-military flyover at Auschwitz in 2003. Eshel initiated the event and led the flyover. A photo of that flyover can be found in the offices of many senior Israeli officials, both in the military and the government.