Benny Peled

Benny Peled (Hebrew: בני פלד; April 18, 1928 – July 13, 2002) was the commander of the Israeli Air Force during the Yom Kippur War and Operation Entebbe.

Peled studied in Gymnasia Herzelia and his teachers included Shaul Tchernichovsky, Yehuda Burla and Zvi Nishri, who educated him in the spirit of Zionism and democracy.

[2] After a brief term serving in the Jewish Settlement Police as a teenager, he started as a mechanic in the beginnings of the Israeli Air Force.

[3] In 1956 Peled participated in Operation Kadesh, the Suez or Sinai campaign, in which his Mystere jet was shot down by Egyptian anti-aircraft fire and he became the first Israeli pilot to use an ejector seat.

In that capacity he led the Israeli Air Force in the Yom Kippur War, successfully overcoming early setbacks.