Aluf ''Aluf'' ( he, אלוף, lit=champion or "First\leader of a group" in Biblical Hebrew; ) is a senior military rank in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for officers who in other countries would have the rank of general, air marshal, or admiral ...

Amos Lapidot ( he, עמוס לפידות; &lrm); (1934 – November 20, 2019) was an Israeli fighter pilot who served as the tenth Commander of the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defens ...

, a position he held from 1982 to 1987. From 1998 to 2001 he was the President of

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology ( he, הטכניון – מכון טכנולוגי לישראל) is a public research university located in Haifa, Israel. Established in 1912 under the dominion of the Ottoman Empire, the Technion ...

Biography

Lapidot was born in

Kfar Saba Kfar Saba ( he, כְּפַר סָבָא), officially Kefar Sava, is a city in the Sharon region, of the Central District of Israel. In 2019 it had a population of 110,456, making it the 16th-largest city in Israel. The population of Kfar Saba ...

, Israel, in 1934, and grew up in Havatzelet HaSharon. He initially enlisted in the IDF Artillery Corps, before eventually joining the nascent

, and completed the IAF pilots' course in 1954. He flew the

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...

, and

Dassault Ouragan The Dassault M.D.450 Ouragan (french: Hurricane) is a French fighter-bomber developed and produced by Dassault Aviation. It has its origins in a private venture by Dassault to produce an all-French aircraft which would make use of jet propulsion ...

. Lapidot held a BA in mathematics from

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

, and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in financial systems engineering from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

. During the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

, he flew the Ouragan and the

Dassault Mystère The Dassault MD.452 Mystère is a 1950s French fighter-bomber. Development After the success of the Ouragan, Dassault was working on a more advanced machine which would take to the air in early 1951 as the MD.452 Mystère I. The first proto ...

. In 1961 he switched to the

Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach number, Mach 2 ...

and became the deputy commander of 101 Squadron, the IAF's first Mirage squadron. In 1962, he was assigned command of 113 Squadron, flying Ouragans, and in 1965 became commander of 101 Squadron, which he was to lead during the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

. In 1970, he was put in charge of the weapons department in the Israeli Air Force and in 1973 became commander of

Hatzor Airbase Hatzor Israeli Air Force Base ( he, בָּסִיס חֵיל-הַאֲוִויר חָצוֹר) , also titled Kanaf 4 (''lit.'' Wing 4) is an Israeli Air Force military air base, located in central Israel near kibbutz Hatzor after which it is named. ...

, which he led during the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

. In 1975, Lapidot was put in charge of the Air Intelligence Directorate and in 1981 he became the director of the

IAI Lavi The IAI Lavi (Hebrew: לביא, "Young Lion") was a single-engined fourth-generation multirole jet fighter developed in Israel, by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), during the 1980s. The decision to develop the Lavi was controversial, both with ...

project. A year later, in 1982, he was promoted to the rank of

and became the Commander of the Israeli Air Force. During his tenure, the Israeli Air Force received more

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successf ...

fighter jets and upgraded its missile inventory with the Israeli

AGM-142 Have Nap Popeye (Hebrew: פופאי) is a family of air-to-surface missiles developed and in use by Israel, of which several types have been developed for Israeli and export users. A long-range submarine-launched cruise missile variant of the Popeye Turbo ...

. It was under his aegis that the IAF carried out

Operation Wooden Leg Operation "Wooden Leg" ( he, מבצע רגל עץ, ''Mivtza Regel Etz'') was an attack by Israel on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) headquarters in Hammam Chott, near Tunis, Tunisia, on October 1, 1985. With a target 1,280 miles (2,0 ...

, a raid on the headquarters of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and sta ...

(PLO) at Hammam al-Shatt,

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

(1,500 miles away from

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

). In 1987, Lapidot completed his term as Commander of the Israeli Air Force and handed command over to

Avihu Ben-Nun Avihu Ben-Nun ( he, אביהו בן-נון; born 24 December 1939) was the 11th commander of the Israeli Air Force between 1987 and 1992. Biography Ben-Nun enlisted in the Israeli Air Force in 1957 and became a fighter pilot. In 1963 he began fly ...

. In 1988, Lapidot created a

think-tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental ...

organization. From 1998 to 2001 he was the President of

, following Zehev Tadmor and followed by

Yitzhak Apeloig Yitzhak Apeloig (יצחק אפלויג; born 1 September 1944 in Uzbekistan) is a pioneer in the computational chemistry field of the Ab initio quantum chemistry methods for predicting and preparing the physical and chemical properties of mater ...

. In 2007, he headed a public committee appointed by Transport Minister

Shaul Mofaz Shaul Mofaz ( he, שאול מופז; 4 November 1948) is a retired Israeli military officer and politician. He joined the Israel Defense Forces in 1966 and served in the Paratroopers Brigade. He fought in the Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War, 1982 Le ...

to examine aviation safety. He resigned in May 2008 after its recommendations were not implemented. He was the chair of the academic committee of the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapidot, Amos 1934 births 2019 deaths Israeli Jews Israeli Air Force generals Technion – Israel Institute of Technology presidents Tel Aviv University alumni Stanford University alumni People from Kfar Saba