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 ...

Eliezer Shkedy (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: אליעזר שקדי; born 16 August 1957) is a retired

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

in the Israel Defense Forces, who served as 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 ...

from 4 April 2004 until 13 May 2008. He is also a former CEO of

El Al El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugura ...

, the

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations. Hi ...

of Israel. Shkedy was born in

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 ...

to parents of both Ashkenazi and Sephardic descent; his father was a

Hungarian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived i ...

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

, whereas his mother was an Egyptian-Jewish immigrant. Shkedy, a resident of

Yehud-Monosson Yehud-Monosson ( he, יְהוּד-מוֹנוֹסוֹן) is a city formed by the joint municipality of the town of Yehud and the neighboring communal settlement of Neve Monosson in central Israel. In the city had a population of . History Within ...

, was born in

and after graduating from high school 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 i ...

he was conscripted into the IDF in 1975. He was accepted into the

IAF Flight Academy The Israeli Air Force Flight Academy trains aircrew to operate Israeli Air Force aircraft, qualifying fighter, helicopter and transport pilots as well as combat and transport navigators. The IAF flight course is considered one of the most pres ...

and graduated as a fighter pilot. Shkedy was a member of several units before he was assigned to

Hatzerim Airbase Hatzerim Israeli Air Force Base ( he, בָּסִיס חֵיל-הַאֲוִויר חֲצֵרִים, ''Basis Heil HaAvir Hatzerim'') is an air base of the Israeli Air Force in the Negev Desert on the west outskirts of Beersheba, near Kibbutz Hatze ...

. He was based there during the 1982 Lebanon War in which he shot down two enemy aircraft. In the mid-1980s, Shkedy studied at

Ben-Gurion University Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...

, receiving a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Computer Science. He continued his career in the IAF until the mid-1990s when he studied for an M.A. in Systems management at the US Naval Postgraduate School in California. He was promoted to commander of the Israeli Air Force on 4 April 2004 and was succeeded in the position by Aluf

Ido Nehoshtan Aluf Ido Nehoshtan, also Nehushtan ( he, עידו נחושתן; born 1957) is a retired general in the Israel Defense Forces. He replaced Eliezer Shkedi on 4 April 2008 as Air Force Commander until he himself was replaced by Amir Eshel on 10 May ...

upon his retirement on 13 May 2008. He is the chairman of the NGO

Heroes for life Heroes for Life (in Hebrew: לוחמים ללא גבולות) is a non-governmental organization founded in 2013 by three officers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who had served in the Duvdevan unit for eight years. They started a trip after per ...

. General Shkedy was appointed front commander against countries that do not border Israel. This put him in charge of

Israeli Iran Command The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...

, which was set up to be the overall coordinator of Israeli military operations and intelligence gathering against Iran should a war start between the two countries. Although the appointment was reported in late August 2006, it was said to have occurred before the

Second Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...

began.

Notes

References

IDF Bio
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shkedi, Eliezer 1957 births Ben-Gurion University of the Negev alumni Israeli Air Force generals Israeli aviators Living people Naval Postgraduate School alumni Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Israeli chief executives Chief executives in the airline industry Israeli people of Egyptian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israeli Sephardi Jews