David Ivry

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David Ivry (born 1934) was the Israeli Ambassador to the United States from 2000 to 2002, and the ninth commander of the Israeli Air Force. In 1999, he was appointed first director of the National Security Council.

Ivry was born in Tel Aviv, in 1934. In 1952 he was recruited to the IAI, where he served as a pilot of a P-51 Mustang. In 1956, he was sent to a special flight-instructors course in the UK, and became the commander of the flight-instruction school at Tel Nof Airbase. During the Sinai Campaign he served as an Ouragan pilot. In 1962, he became the commander of the first Israeli squadron of the French Dassault Mirage.

In the six day war, Ivry served as a Mirage pilot and the commander of the Mystère squadron.

From October 1977 to December 1982, he served as the ninth commander of the Israeli Air Force. While he was in command, the IAI bases were moved from Sinai to the Negev, the air force took part in Operation Litani, and he was in command in the early stages of Operation Peace of the Galilee, when the biggest Dogfight in the jet-plane era, in which more than 150 planes fought, about 47 Syrian planes were shot down, without even one Israeli loss. He was also one of the people in charge of the famous Operation Opera.

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Zalman Shoval	Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. 2000-2002	Succeeded by Daniel Ayalon
Military offices
Preceded by Benny Peled	Commander of the Israeli Air Force 1977–1982	Succeeded by Amos Lapidot