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Incoming IAF chief Maj. Gen. Omer Tischler (left), IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (center) and outgoing IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar at a handover ceremony at the Tel Nof Airbase, May 5, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)
May 5, 2026, 10:05 pm
At handover ceremony, outgoing Air Force chief calls for ‘external’ Oct. 7 inquiry
Tomer Bar says ‘objective’ inquiry essential ‘for trust’ between citizens and country; regarding Iran, new chief Omer Tischler says ready ‘to take entire Air Force eastward, if required’
By Emanuel Fabian
A US Air Force F-15EX Eagle II aircraft taxis ahead of a flight at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, March 9, 2026. (US Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christian Conrad)
April 4, 2026, 9:46 am
How does a fighter pilot survive being shot down in enemy territory?
As US races to find crewmember shot down Friday, a former pilot and rescuer describe how the aviator’s survival, evasion, resistance and escape training would kick in as rescue teams home in
By Ulysse Bellier
Brig. Gen. (res.) Giora Even Epstein (IDF)
July 19, 2025, 5:11 pm
‘Ace of aces’: Giora Even Epstein, Israel’s most decorated fighter pilot, dies aged 87
‘Hawkeye’ Epstein was the world’s top fighter jet pilot of the supersonic era, shot down 17 Egyptian aircraft during his IAF career
By Stav Levaton and ToI Staff
"Yud," a deputy commander of an IAF fighter squadron, speaks to Channel 12 in an interview broadcast on June 27, 2025. (Channel 12 screenshot/Facebook)
June 28, 2025, 11:53 am
Married couple, both IAF combat navigators, flew sorties over Iran during 12-day war
‘Yud’ is first woman to be deputy commander of a fighter squadron; she tells Channel 12 she is ‘not worried’ about husband but checks the monitors to make sure he returns safely
By ToI Staff
An Israir flight takes off from Ben Gurion International Airport, outside of Tel Aviv, August 25, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/ Flash90/ File)
April 17, 2025, 10:39 pm
Civil pilots, ex-soldiers and bereaved families join public calls for hostage deal
‘Return all the hostages even at the cost of ending the war. Every day that passes endangers their lives,’ write some 300 Israeli pilots, joining trend started by Air Force members
By ToI Staff
Former state attorney Moshe Lador attends a conference at the Knesset on December 11, 2019 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
December 14, 2024, 8:47 pm
Ex-state attorney: Air Force reservists should stop flying if judicial overhaul revived
Lador argues refusal is ‘legitimate tool’ against attempts to turn Israel into a ‘dictatorship’; president, lawmakers decry rhetoric; PM, justice minister want him investigated
By ToI Staff, Sam Sokol and Jeremy Sharon
IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar speaks at a graduation ceremony for pilots, June 27, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
June 28, 2024, 5:54 am
Air force chief says IDF ready to face Hezbollah in north, Hamas nearly defeated in Gaza
Tomer Bar notes fatigue given length of fighting, but says Israel has the patience and spirit to battle Hezbollah; IDF head: Allowing evacuees to return home safely our main goal
By Emanuel Fabian and ToI Staff
Settlements Minister Orit Strock arrives to a government conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on December 10, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
December 31, 2023, 8:21 pm
Outrage as far-right minister suggests some pilots refusing air support for Gaza troops
Settlements Minister Orit Strock widely reported to ask at cabinet if some in Air Force are failing to carry out their duties for ideological reasons
By ToI Staff
Aerial footage of the site in South Brunswick, New Jersey of the helicopter crash in which an Israeli pilot was killed, Aug. 31, 2023. (X screenshot)
September 1, 2023, 10:55 am
Israeli pilot killed in helicopter crash in New Jersey
Police say there were no other victims from the crash in South Brunswick; efforts being made to return pilot’s body to Israel
By ToI Staff
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli speaks at the AJC Global Forum in Tel Aviv, on June 14, 2023 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
August 20, 2023, 1:10 pm
Minister calls for probe into Air Force chief’s handling of unrest in the ranks
Amichai Chikli says Tomer Bar has mismanaged reservists’ refusal to serve over the government’s judicial overhaul, noting that other division ‘have no such phenomena’
By ToI Staff
Illustrative: Fighter jets from the IAF's second F-35 squadron, the Lions of the South, fly over southern Israel. (Israel Defense Forces)
July 14, 2023, 8:18 am
Netanyahu said refusing to halt overhaul push: We can do ‘without a few squadrons’
PM rails against threats by reservists to stop showing up for duty if government pushes ahead with controversial legislation; veterans say he is endangering national security
By ToI Staff
An El Al plane after takeoff from Ben Gurion Airport. September 7, 2014. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
May 8, 2023, 3:04 pm
El Al to rebuke pilot who compared Israel to Nazi Germany in in-flight message
In message to passengers on Holocaust Remembrance day, Captain Doron Ginzburg warned judicial overhaul plan could lead to a dictatorship and bring about ‘things like the Holocaust’
By ToI Staff
An El Al plane after takeoff from Ben Gurion Airport. September 7, 2014. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
April 18, 2023, 4:22 pm
El Al pilot under fire for preflight message tying judicial overhaul to Holocaust
Before takeoff on Holocaust Memorial Day, captain says atrocities take place ‘in a dictatorship, and we’re fighting to remain a democracy’; he later apologizes
By Michael Bachner
Illustrative: IDF reservists patrolling along the Lebanese border near the Israeli village of Zar'it. (Roy Sharon/Flash90)
March 8, 2023, 9:40 am
No longer willing to carry the burden: Reservist protest hints at deeper crisis
The IDF is deeply worried that refusal to serve over judicial overhaul will spread. Such threats have been made before, but this time feels different
By Haviv Rettig Gur
FILE: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the graduation ceremony of new Israeli Air Force pilots at the Hatzerim Air Force base, December 31, 2015 (Photo by Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
March 6, 2023, 1:37 pm
Daily Briefing Mar. 6: Will Netanyahu be swayed by pushback from reservists?
ToI editor David Horovitz and diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman discuss opposition in the IDF to judicial reform and growing criticism from Israel’s allies
By ToI Staff
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