Iftach Spector (; born 20 October 1940) is a retired

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i brigadier general, a former fighter pilot and commander of the airbases at Tel Nof and

Ramat David Ramat David () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Jezreel Valley near Ramat David Airbase, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The kibbutz was established in 1926 ...

. He serves on the Israel Advisory Council of the

Israel Policy Forum The Israel Policy Forum is an American Jewish organization that works for a negotiated two-state outcome to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through advocacy, education and policy research. The organization appeals to American policymakers in ...

Biography

Spector was born in

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...

, in what was then

Mandate Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...

, in 1940. His parents were both part of the

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

, the elite strike force of the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

. His father, Zvi Spector, was the commander of

Operation Boatswain Operation Boatswain was the first of the operational missions carried out by the Palmach as part of the cooperation between the Jewish Yishuv in Mandatory Palestine and the British during World War II. The mission to sabotage oil refineries in Tr ...

, a failed 1941 Palmach mission in Lebanon that resulted in the deaths of all participants, and his mother, Shoshana Spector, was among the founding members of the Palmach and served as its adjutant officer. Spector grew up on kibbutz

Givat Brenner Givat Brenner (), is a kibbutz in the Central District of Israel. Located around south of Rehovot, it falls under the jurisdiction of Brenner Regional Council. Founded in 1928, it is named after writer Yosef Haim Brenner, who was killed in t ...

and kibbutz Hulata. Spector saw action in the

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

, and the commander involved in the 20-minute Israel airstrike and napalm-strafing of the USS Liberty on the 75-minute Israeli attack that comprises the USS ''Liberty'' incident. As commander he maintained that he believed the ship was an enemy vessel and acted based on the intelligence available at the time. Both Israeli and U.S. investigations officially concluded it was a tragic mistake, but many survivors and researchers have challenged this conclusion, suggesting potential deliberate targeting. 34 American crewmen were killed and 171 were wounded. In 1992 he was awarded the

Yitzhak Sadeh Prize The Yitzhak Sadeh Prize for Military Literature is an annual award literary award given in Israel for the finest book on a military topic. It is named in honor of Yitzhak Sadeh. Winners * 1976, ''The Emissary: The Life of Enzo Seren'' by Ruth B ...

for his book ''A Dream In Blue And Black'', a novelized account of a fighter squadron 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 fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

. Since 2001, he has been active in the Movement for Disengagement from the Palestinians. In 2003, Spector was one of 27 reserve pilots and former pilots exempt from reserve duty to sign " The pilots' letter" refusing to fly missions against targets in the West Bank and Gaza.

Publications

* Iftach Spector, ''Loud and Clear'', Minneapolis, Zenith Press, 2009, 426 pp., is his personal autobiography.

References

Israeli Air Force generals Israeli flying aces Israeli Jews Six-Day War pilots Yom Kippur War pilots Living people 1940 births People from Givat Brenner People from Hulata {{Israel-mil-bio-stub

Biography

Publications

See also

References