Who the F*ck is Michael?!: An Israeli Air Force Chief's Uncompromising Code for Achieving Greatness

by Elyezer Shkedy

As the fly-over passed Auschwitz, Eshel said the following over the radio: We, the pilots of the Israeli Air Force, flying in the skies above the camp of horrors, have arisen from the ashes of the millions of victims. We shoulder their silent cries, salute their courage, and promise to be the shield of the Jewish nation and its country, Israel. Members of the IDF’s “Witnesses in Uniform” delegation, led by the then-Head of the Air Division, Ido Nehushtan, stood on the soil of Auschwitz at the time, saw the Israeli jets that passed over their heads, heard Eshel’s chilling words over the public-address system, understood the deep meaning of the fly-over and the meaning of standing there in the uniform of the Israel Defense Forces. They could not hold back the tears. The planes that passed over that damned, abominable place, which symbolizes evil incarnate, represented the IAF, the IDF, the State of Israel, and the entire Jewish people, all over the world. The message they conveyed was crystal clear.