Pilot who refused to bomb Palestinian targets gets 'golden wings'
Brig. Gen (res.) Iftach Spector was forced out of IAF in 2003 for claiming bombings were immoral.
By Anshel Pfeffer Tags: IAF Israel newsBrig. Gen (res.) Iftach Spector, the highest-ranking officer to sign the "pilots' letter," declaring the refusal to participate in operations in the territories in 2003, was last week awarded the golden wings given to Israel Air Force pilots to mark the 50th anniversary of their graduation from flight school.
The insignia was bestowed on Spector less than two weeks after the Israel Defense Forces decided to dismiss from service a Kfir Brigade soldier for waving a sign in support of refusing to evacuate unauthorized settler outposts in the West Bank.
In 2003, at the height of the second intifada, Spector was the commander of the IAF's Ramat David and Tel Nof bases and was considered one of the best fighter pilots in Israeli history.
He downed 12 enemy planes in the course of his career and was one of the pilots who attacked Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981. Spector shocked his colleagues when he signed the letter in which 27 IAF pilots declared their refusal to take part in operations in the territories that they claimed were illegal and immoral. All of the signatories were forced to leave their IAF reserve duty posts, but Spector did stay on as a flight instructor.
The incident led to Spector's autobiography, "Loud and Clear: The Memoir of an Israeli Fighter Pilot," in which he settled scores with then IAF commander Dan Halutz for saying, famously, that when he dropped a one-ton bomb on a populated neighborhood he felt: "Nothing. Just a light buffet on the wing, that's all." Spector accused Halutz of encouraging a culture within the IDF of compromising one's principles.
The award ceremony last Tuesday is part of an IAF tradition in which pilots, or their relatives if the pilots themselves have died, are awarded the 50-year patch. Among the recipients this time were former IAF commander Avihu Bin-Nun and former IDF chief education officer Nehemia Dagan.
Spector said this week that he, unlike some of his fellow pilots' letter signatories, never retracted his decision and that, to the best of his knowledge, the IAF never reversed its decision to dismiss from military service those who signed. He noted that in the past several years he has been invited to many IAF functions. "There was never any problem with them, with the exception of the decision to dismiss, there was no change in the attitude to me, either positively or negatively. It's an emotional thing." IAF officials admitted that Spector could not have been invited to an important IAF ceremony while Halutz commanded that branch of service or later, when he was IDF chief of staff.
The IDF Spokesman's Office said in response: "The IAF conducts a ceremony in which the IAF commander gives a golden wings pin to commemorate the 50th anniversary of graduation from flight school. This ceremony is part of the IAF's heritage. The pins were awarded to pilots' course graduates who completed their training between 1957 and 1960, including Brig. Gen. (res.) Iftach Spector. Brig. Gen Spector received the decoration like the rest of his class, to mark 50 years as a pilot."
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more isreali soldiers need to have morals then listen to crazy people like moshe dayan and ariel sharon
Rome Salted the Land so thoroughly that no one would farm it for two thousand years. It took The Zionist Enterprise, with the Benefit of some of the worlds best Russian Trained Hydrologists to bring Rivers back to that Desert and Flush that Salt Away. What Israel Returned to Was Empty and Neglected Ruins, Neglected by everyone, including by the last actual governors, the Turks. The Criteria for a Palestinian Refugee has to be different than other Refugees because they are not Refugees and the purpose of their Agency has to be different than all the Others because they do not just want a home, they had a Home elsewhere, they want Our Home the same way they want Everyone's Home, including Indian Homes, Serbian Homes, Russian Homes, South Sudanese Homes, Greek Homes, they wanted Lebanese Christian's homes too once. The Biblical and Historical details of Canaan are not relevant unless you want to take the Biblical Description of an Arab as Living in a Tent as pardon the expression, Gospel.
You speak of a savage army bathing the desert sands in the blood of infidels. Isn't that a pretty good description of how the Hebrews took over Canaan, killing every person and going beyond that to kill the animals in the stalls? The Arabs when they conquered didn't go in for genocide.
You take Palestinians to task for trying to return to a place they have never seen; doesn't that describe what zionism has Jews doing when they move to Israel?
Georgia had a right to defend itself, so did Serbia, so did Britain. Wars have right sides and wrong sides. You have been on the wrong side an awful lot lately and that is why your country is falling.
The Nazis deserved to die, so too did their allies and servants, so to do their modern servants today, though they march under crescent instead. When two Israelis made a wrong turn, it was like Sodom, every man and boy on that street came down from their apartments to join in the slaughter. If they were innocent, they would not have chosen to be Palestinians. This is a choice for them, they are the only refugees in the world, trying to return to a place they have never even seen and their motives are nothing but the blood and ashes of the mouth of Cain.
You ignore the spirit of the resolution which is the illegality of the acquisition of land through warfare in the modern world, and you deny the historical context which is that until then Jordan and Egypt controlled the WB and Gaza because of the events of 1948, but no matter - if you believe that Israel should keep the land, then what do you think should happen to the Palestinian inhabitants? Ethnic cleansing? Integration? Ghettoisation? Honestly, what's your plan?
Here's Natalie again with her unsubstantiated generalities which once more prove that she is a part of the problem. My dear, do you have proof that Spector committed war crimes? Do you have proof that he bombed civilians? If so, he might be a candidate for trial. If not, there is no legal case. Your hate and rage against people is always all too clear. And if you think I am biased, please refer to my earlier entry on this article.
It reveals alot about your ethics.
After all, there WAS the bombing of Dresden.
Just determine the combined membership of all Palestinian militant Orgs, plus 5% or so for potential error; then subtract this number from the total population of Palestinians. The result will be a safe estimate of Palestinians "who refused to bomb Jews". In other words Alan, the vast majority of Palestinians you might encounter would qualify. There's only a small percentage who have, or would, bomb Jews. So what do you think, Alan? Is it possible that this simple bit of "human" reasoning just MIGHT have influenced Gen. Spector's refusal to bomb residential neighborhoods in the West Bank?
Just determine the combined membership of all Palestinian militant Orgs, plus 5% or so for potential error; then subtract this number from the total population of Palestinians. The result will be a safe estimate of Palestinians "who refused to bomb Jews". In other words Alan, the vast majority of Palestinians you might encounter would qualify. There's only a small percentage who have, or would, bomb Jews. So what do you think, Alan? Is it possible that this simple bit of "human" reasoning just MIGHT have influenced Gen. Spector's refusal to bomb residential neighborhoods in the West Bank?
what a brave and decent person. Salaam to you sir.
Most militaries today are too busy guilt tripping themselves, to win a war like that. Once upon a time, strong men turned Dresden into rubble and Hiroshima into ashes and they were right when they did. Today, even Israel, a country that can be crossed on foot in one day, can be called the Villain for defending itself against a savage army that has swept over fifty two nations, bathing the desert sands in the blood of infidels. They will march through Europe and no one will have the will to oppose them. They will call you all Nazis, even as you are the ones they exterminate and you will welcome their blades.
After all, there WAS the bombing of Dresden.
Just determine the combined membership of all Palestinian militant Orgs, plus 5% or so for potential error; then subtract this number from the total population of Palestinians. The result will be a safe estimate of Palestinians "who refused to bomb Jews". In other words Alan, the vast majority of Palestinians you might encounter would qualify. There's only a small percentage who have, or would, bomb Jews. So what do you think, Alan? Is it possible that this simple bit of "human" reasoning just MIGHT have influenced Gen. Spector's refusal to bomb residential neighborhoods in the West Bank?
If you check the after action reports done after WWII about the efficacy of many of our moral failures (such as deliberately targeting civilians for bombing raids) you will find many (if not most) didn't hasten the end of the war, and in fact were tactical (or strategic) mistakes. Don't believe all the "wild blue yonder", etc, the armed forces (like Harris and Lemay) put out to justify their actions.
'Jews were once considered less than human. Should we inflict that on others?' In that connection, it's noticeable that the pro-Israel brigade reflexively objects to anything that portrays Arabs as human. It is fundamental to most of their positions that Arabs not be regarded as such.
I am sick of these phonies who attack Israel for doing the same thing as the United States.
If he is an Israeli pilot, he likely caused innocent Palestinian blood to spill on the sands of Palestine. In my eyes, he is no less a war criminal than Shimon Peres!
The resolutions clearly call on the Arab states to make peace with Israel. The principal condition is that Israel withdraw from "territories occupied" in 1967, which means that Israel must withdraw from some, all, or none of the territories still occupied. Since Israel withdrew from 91% of the territories when it gave up the Sinai, it has already partially, if not wholly, fulfilled its obligation under 242. Now that peace agreements have been signed with Egypt and Jordan, the only remaining territorial disputes are with Lebanon and Syria. The Palestinians are not mentioned anywhere in Resolution 242. They are only alluded to in the second clause of the second article of 242, which calls for "a just settlement of the refugee problem." Nowhere does it require that Palestinians be given any political rights or territory. I hope that it is clear now.....
of true Jewish values,this is the type of man who needs to be a Prime Minister of the state of Israel. I love his bravery, salam., Shalom be with you. I M.
which would have been raging until today otherwise.
They gave him a Cherubim! Hilarious!
Why don't you take them to court? I fully agree with you that they should be tried, but unlike you I think that no law inside ANY judicial systems allows your arguments. If you do not like it stop the world an get off.
those who are saluted grudgingly out of respect for the rank they wear...and those who are saluted willingly out of respect for which they are worthy. gen. spector is clearly one of the latter; and i salute him.
if he received this award at 50 years since graduating from flight school...he was an iaf pilot for 43 years... AND was retained afterward as a flight instructor. his integrity, brian, no doubt accounts for his longevity in the iaf...and i can assure you that he has NO remorse for maintaining it by voicing his moral objections.
He is obviously a human being who thinks for himself and not a dumb-dumb guy like those who gave him orders to commit war crimes.
Had the article been about pilots from other countries refusing to fly I would have addressed their refusal as well. Just for the record I believe ANY warcrimes by ANY Nation should be fully investigated by independant commissions and if evidence of warcrimes are found they should be prosecuted. In fact lets look at Russia and Georgia, The US and Britian and any other conflict that occurs in the future.
Michael in Johannesburg, I live in that glass house as you can see from my address and have condemned the actions you ascribe, rightly, to Americans. What is your point?
More should have been stated about his treatment and the soldiers who stated that they would not remove Jews from their homes. Pilots who stated that they would not fight Israel's enemies vs. soldiers who would not "disengage" Jews. What would the recruits have done in their future with the IDF.
One need not concern oneself too much with Dan Halutz. He left his post in disgrace with the unenviable title of having lost a war in Israel. Men like Spector are the true heroes of the Zionist renewal. While recognizing that force is sometimes unavoidable in the current state of human development, he nevertheless places limits on its use. As such he upholds Jewish values more than others with blood on their hands. Ghandi was shot in the face in a hotel lobby; Raful fell off a dock; Sharon lingers in a coma. To those with blood on their hands, a day of retribution always comes.
If you acted like a typical Palestinian, your own law enforcement would not hesitate to kill you. In fact, a certain man in Yemen, is being targeted by your CIA and your President, for death, despite American Citizenship and honestly, most Palestinians have committed more crimes than he. Does he have blood under his fingernails or just in his words?
It is always sad when the good ones lose their minds. Time for a retirement.
read UN Resolution 242
Maybe the IAF pilots should go on trial with the American pilots for the infrastructure damage in Iraq, and the number of civilians killed. At least some Israeli pilots refused to go to war against there priciples...never heard of any Americans refusing. What about putting out arrest warrents for pilots who massacred civilians in Cambodia, Vietnam, and dropping Atomic bombs in Japan. People who live in glass houses, shouldnt through stones
Thoughtful and honest. Would like to hear from you.
War changes the ownership of land, Judea and Samaria are Israel's by right of divine calling *and* honorable warfare. Israels enemies hide among 'arab civilians', and among 'israeli intellectuals'. What arouses my disgust is the refusal and failure (by the second group of enemies) to put the war to an end by destroying and driving off all those who maintain the policy of war against Israel (being the first group of enemies). Who should remain? Those (and only those) who swear an oath to uphold and protect the Jewish State of Israel on all the land Israel conquered in battle. "Land for Peace" means "You want to keep your land? Swear peace with us".
Obviously everyone who ever did anything to defend the Israel and/or the Jews must be tried for war crimes - right?
I guess this general is doing his own teshouvah. Oppression is a terrible thing to bear, especially if you have to bear it in silence. The story of the Jewish people throughout history shows that we survive, but we must make a redoubled effort not to inflict on others what we have endured at the hands of our own oppressors. It's good to strong, to be able to say "Never Again", but also to be able to live w/one's conscience. A lot of soldiers are asking themselves questions. Jews were once considered less than human. Should we inflict that on others?
He is probably the only pilot in the IAF that will not one day be tried for war crimes.