Air force chief nixes upgrade to German-made Volkswagen

New air force chief Amir Eshel has rejected the offer of a vehicle upgrade because the car given to generals in the Israeli military is made in Germany.

Eshel told associates he did not feel comfortable driving a German-made Volkwagen in light of the Holocaust, the Maariv newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Choosing instead to keep the Chevrolet Malibu he got in his previous role, Eshel told his friends that the move was “something that is cerebral but also comes from the gut.”

“This was [Eshel’s] personal, and legitimate, request,” said one of Eshel’s friends. His mother, Edna, lost relatives in the Holocaust, which had a great impact on Eshel’s family.

Before becoming the top airman, Eshel was primarily known as the lead pilot in a flyover of the Auschwitz death camp in 2003.  Eshel led a formation of three IAF F-15 Eagles during a fly-over of the camp in Poland. During the flight, Eshel stated: “We, the pilots of the Israeli Air Force, flying in the skies above the camp of horrors, arose from the ashes of the millions of victims and shoulder their silent cries, salute their courage, and promise to be the shield of the Jewish people and its nation Israel.”

The experience of flying over a concentration camp is believed to have deeply affected him.

A friend of Eshel’s told Maariv the air force chief maintains composure and decorum when dealing with Germany in his official army capacity, “but when it comes to his emotions — something personal to him — it’s tough for him.”