In Midst Of Iran Threat, Israel Appoints New Air Force Commander – OpEd

In light of Iranian leaders continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and their claim that the establishment of the “Zionist regime” in the midst of the Middle East was a Western conspiracy designed to entrench Western control of the region, many observers are expecting some action by the Israeli government.

For example, yesterday Minister of Defense Ehud Barak approved the decision by the IDF Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, to appoint Major General Amir Eshel the new commander of the Israeli Air Force (IAF), according to Law Enforcement Examiner’s Israeli source, Jeffrey Hochman of the Israel National Police.

Maj. Gen Amir Eshel was born in Yaffo in 1959. In 1977 he was drafted to the IAF as a pilot and completed his training as a combat pilot in 1979. His service as a pilot began at in an exercise at the Etzion Air Force base. During the course of his service as a Skyhawk pilot Gen. Amir Eshel fought in the Lebanon War. He served as an instructor in the Pilot Training School later on for two years, according to Hochman.

AMIR ESHEL’S MILITARY EXPERIENCE

• 1991-1993 Commander of the Barak Squadron at the Ramat David Airbase
• 1993-1995 Commander of the Kornus 2,000 Squadron at the Tel Nof Airbase
• 1996-1999 Head of the Operations Branch in the air force staff
• 1999-2001 Commander of the Ramon Airbase
• 2001-2003 Commander of the Tel Nof Airbase
• 2004-2005 Air Squadron Commander
• 2006-2008 Air Force Staff Commander
• 2008- Present Planning Directorate Commander
• Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel holds a B.A. from Auburn University in Alabama and a Masters in Political Science from Haifa University’s National Security College. Maj Gen. Amir Eshel is married to Abigail and is the father of Inbar, Yoav and Ori.

Meanwhile, Iranian leaders continue to denigrate and threated the Jewish State. For example, in a speech given this week by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he defined the uprisings in the Arab world as a prelude to the uprising against “the Zionist network of global tyranny,” according to the Meir Amit think-tank.

He said that, throughout its history, mankind has been through all materialist schools of thought and ideologies, including Marxism, liberal democracy, and secular nationalism. It is now at the threshold of a new era whose major characteristic is that the nations are turning to God. The current century, according to Khamenei, is the century of Islam.