Ezer Weizman

{{Audio|He-Ezer_Weitzman.ogg|Ezer Weizman}} (??? ?????) (Tel Aviv, June 15, 1924 – Caesarea Maritima, April 24, 2005) was the seventh President of the State of Israel (1993-2000). He was a nephew of Chaim Weizmann, Israel's first president.

Military career

Ezer Weizman was a combat pilot. He received his training in the British Army which he joined in 1942 in order to help the British overcome the Nazis. He served as a truck driver in the Western Desert campaigns (Egypt and Libya), and in 1943 he joined the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and attended aviation school in Rhodesia. He served with the RAF in India in early 1944. During 1944-1946 he was a member of the Etzel (Irgun Zva'i Le'umi) in Israel. Between 1946 and 1947 he studied aeronautics in England. During the 1948 Israeli War of Independence he served as a pilot for the Haganah, and is acknowledged as being the "father" of the development of the Israeli Air Force (IAF). He was the commander of the Negev Air Squadron near Nir-Am. In May 1948, he learned to fly Avia S-199 airplanes (a Messerschmitt 109G airframe, underpowered with a Jumo 211F bomber engine) in Czechoslovakia to bolster the fledging Israeli air corps, and he flew in Israel's first fighter mission, a ground attack on an Egyptian column advancing toward Tel Aviv near the Arab town of Isdud (near Ashdod, south of 'Ad Halom' bridge). In the famous combat between Israeli and British RAF aircraft on January 7, 1949, he was a pilot in a group of 4 Israeli Spitfire fighters, who clashed with 14 British Spitfire and Tempest aircraft, after an earlier flight of British Spitfires infringed Israel's southern border for reconnaissance and 3 got shot down by the IAF. Weizman damaged a British Tempest but did not shoot it down (several British fighters were shot down by other pilots).

Related Topics:
Combat pilot - British Army - 1942 - Nazi - Royal Air Force - Rhodesia - India - Etzel - Irgun Zva'i Le'umi - 1948 Israeli War of Independence - Haganah - Israeli Air Force - Czechoslovakia - Ashdod - RAF - Spitfire

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After the establishment of the state of Israel, Weizman joined the Israel Defence Forces and served as the Chief of Operations on the General Staff.

Related Topics:
Israel - Israel Defence Forces

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Weizman learned how to fly warplanes such as Czech versions of the Messerschmitt and the Supermarine Spitfire.

Related Topics:
Czech - Messerschmitt - Supermarine Spitfire

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In 1951 he attended the RAF Command and Staff College in England. Upon his return he became commander of the first Israeli air force unit flying Gloster Meteor jets.

Related Topics:
1951 - Gloster Meteor

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He served as the commander of the Israeli Air Force between 1958 to 1966, and later served as deputy of the General Chief of Staff. Major General Weizman earned high credit for his contribution as the Chief of Operations of the IDF in Israel's overwhelming victory over Arab forces during the Six-Day War of June 1967. He directed the early morning surprise air attacks against the Egyptian air bases, which resulted in giving the Israelis almost total air superiority over the Sinai battlefields.

Related Topics:
Israeli Air Force - 1958 - 1966 - General Chief of Staff - Six-Day War - Sinai

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Although he became the IDF's Deputy Chief of Staff in 1966, he retired from military service in 1969 when he understood he would not be appointed as Chief of Staff, the highest military position.

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