Married couple, both IAF combat navigators, flew sorties over Iran during 12-day war

A husband and wife, both combat navigators in the Israel Air Force, flew in Iranian skies and struck Islamic Republic targets during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran.

The wife, who goes by the alias “Yud” because pilot and navigator identities are kept a secret, is the first woman to serve as a deputy commander of a fighter squadron.

Yud is married to “Bet,” who commands an air squadron and will soon command a fighter squadron. The couple has two young children, a son and a daughter.

Yud told Channel 12 in an interview on Friday that their kids stay with family and friends during “intense operations” and that the couple did not see their children for two weeks during the war.

Asked if saying goodbye to her children is different when she goes off to war, Yud told Channel 12: “Yes, it was different. It was different this time.

“It was a different hug, toward an unknown place. We didn’t know how these two weeks would end. We prepared, we got ready, we knew it would be difficult. And as we saw, unfortunately, we experienced losses on the home front of civilians being killed, civilians who were under rocket fire.”

Iran’s missile attacks during the war killed 28 people and wounded thousands in Israel, according to health officials and hospitals. Some of the missiles hit apartment buildings, two universities and a hospital, causing heavy damage.

“I think this operation was on the one hand not simple — the thought that they’re in bomb shelters, under fire, with the home front taking hits,” Yud told Channel 12.

“On the other hand, there is the thought and knowledge that what we’re doing is so that they will have a better future, without an Iranian threat.”

Yud said the situation does not affect the conversations she has with her husband, because they “repress it.”

“But I will tell you that when he goes out to fly, the situation is clear to me — because I know what he’s fighting for. I was there yesterday; I know the threat picture, and I’m not worried. On the other hand, I looked at the plane monitors and made sure our jets crossed the line back safely — and then I stayed for another five minutes to watch and make sure he came back safely too.”

Israel has said its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.

Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it enriched uranium before the war to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. Israel said Iran had recently taken steps toward weaponization.

Iran retaliated to Israel’s attacks by launching over 500 ballistic missiles and around 1,100 drones at Israel.