Yisrael Amir

Lt. Col. Yisrael Amir (1903-November 1, 2002) was the first commander of the Israeli Air Force. Amir was born in Russia, moving to Palestine in 1923 while it was under the British Mandate. Amir then began his military career by joining the newly created Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary group. Following Israel's declaration of statehood on May 14, 1948, the Israel Defense Forces was formed from the Haganah and Jewish Brigade. The air wing of the Haganah. Sherut Avir, was reorganized as the Israeli Air Force, and Amir was appointed its first commander by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion on May 16. Sherut Avir had operated a small collection of aged and non-military aircraft, so the greatest problem facing the new air force was the procurement of modern military airplanes. Amir immediately secured an order of several Messerschmitt fighters and US B-17 Flying Fortress which were ferried to Israel through in Czechoslovakia. Amir retired from his military career in 1969.