Ceremony to be held on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Jewish Defense Organizations
Forty Air Force cadets, including three women, from the prestigious 180th flight course will get their wings on Thursday.
The ceremony will be attended by President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz and Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin.
Of the approximately 600 cadets who passed the preliminary tests into the prestigious pilot’s course, about two-thirds drop out in the first year of the three-year-long intensive program and only 30-40 of those who stay past that will successfully complete the course.
During the course, cadets specialize in various aircraft, and in addition to pilot training and other official duties, the 40 graduates of the course – 37 men and three women – receive a Bachelor’s degree from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and receive the rank of lieutenant.
Due to the continued spread of the coronavirus, the graduation ceremony will be held this year in a limited fashion, with only the immediate families of graduates in attendance. The ceremony will be broadcast live on IDF and IAF platforms to allow relatives of graduates to watch the ceremony remotely.
It will take place on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Jewish Defense Organizations – a number of armed militia groups, including the Haganah, Palmach, Lehi, Etzel and others which protected Jews before the establishment of the State of Israel.
“Today, exactly 100 years after the establishment of the Jewish Defense Organization, the graduates of the pilots’ course continue to work for the safety of the State of Israel,” the IDF said in a statement.
Graduates of the flight course invited Mordechai Raflowitz, an Etzel fighter who fought in the British Army, and the grandfather of one of the graduates, to visit the flight school.
During the visit, Raflowitz met with the commander Norkin and the graduates of the course and took a picture with them as a “token of appreciation” to him and all the other fighters “who formed the basis for the establishment of the Israel Defense Forces,” the military said.
“When I fought in the Irgun ranks as a Holocaust survivor, the rosiest future I dreamed of was the establishment of the state. Now, my granddaughter will receive her pilots’ wings, and I feel that my heart cannot contain my joy and pride,” Raflowicz said of his granddaughter, Lt. Y. “I see her as part of the strength of the Air Force, the IDF and the entire country.”
Addressing Raflowicz, Norkin said he and the other fighters in the Jewish Defense Organizations created a strong backbone to how the IDF operates today.
“We are expanding the IAF’s performance to protect the security of the State of Israel. Lt. Y, granddaughter of Mordechai, together with you, the graduates of flight course are the strength of the strategic Israeli Air Force and it is you who will create the strong infrastructure for those who will follow after you in the years to come.”
As reported by The Jerusalem Post