Israel Air Force Germany

November 7, 2020
An Israeli F-16 fighter jet en route to Germany
An Israeli F-16 fighter jet en route to an exercise in Germany in an undated photograph. (Israel Defense Forces)

The German Luftwaffe and the Israeli Air Force made history last August. On Monday, August 24 six Israeli F-16’s, two Gulfstreams and two Boeing 707 tanker jets arrived in Germany for combined exercises. Around 180 Israeli personnel were involved in the manoeuvre conducted over two weeks.

“It was very emotional for us when the first Israeli jets arrived in German airspace,” a Luftwaffe spokesman said. He spoke of the new connection between Germany and Israel. This was a take-your-breath-away moment. Israeli media rightly declared no one in the early 1940s would have thought it possible. How unlikely for them to envisage a prosperous Israeli state with its own air force? Now in this extraordinary assignment, Israeli pilots flew over the Dachau concentration camp and over Fuerstenfeldbruck airfield as a tribute to the 11 Israeli athletes murdered by “Palestnian” Arab terrorists during the 1972 Olympics.

Dachau was extremely symbolic. In 1933 after Adolph Hitler became chancellor of Germany Heinrich Himmler announced the opening of Dachau. Hilmer Wackerie an SS commander was the first commandant. Dachau the training camp for SS camp guards became the model for the murderous camps that followed.

The activities in Dachau are infamous. Thousands died, many were subjected to excruciating medical experimentation.

In 1942 Hitler introduced ‘The Final Solution’ by his order Jews were systematically exterminated. Thousands from Dachau were transferred to Poland and the gas chambers.

In Israel, it is common to meet descendants of concentration camp victims and survivors. Shira Pansky who writes for the Israeli Air Force website (iaf.org.il) links Dachau and the Israel 105th ‘Scorpion” Squadron. “Maj. Moshe Tadmor, a former commander of the 105th Squadron survived Dachau at the age of 20,” she wrote. The current commander of the Squadron met with Moshe’s family before the assignment in Germany.

“We must focus on shaping the next generations, to ensure that such horrendous events never repeat themselves, and as peace-seeking nations, we are committed to working together to create a better future,”  he told them.

The daughter gave the commander a ring initialled MM worn by her father to be carried on the significant flight.

“It is like closure for me. I feel as though the flyby is a personal salute to my father. I believe that the German-Israeli cooperation, in a flyby at such a terrible place where thousands of lives were erased, is what gives us the strength to continue”, she said.

Hostages

Israeli Air Force also flew over Fuerstenfeldbruck where the airfield is just kilometres from downtown Munich. This airfield became infamous during the Munich Summer Olympics Games specifically September 5-6, 1972.

The so-called ‘Cheerful Games’ are remembered with bitterness and grief. Eight ‘Palestinian’ militants linked to the Black September movement broke into quarters housing, Israeli athletes. The terrorists demanded the release of more than 200 ‘Palestinian’ prisoners held in Israeli jails.

After a bloody exchange in the Olympic village, the Israeli hostages were ushered into buses and onto helicopters. When the choppers arrived at Fuerstanfelbruck airport German security failed miserably. Police snipers had not been formally trained. The Germany army was better trained but were forbidden to assist the civilian police. When the situation escalated police officers abandoned their posts. In the mayhem and confusion that followed eleven Israelis were killed, one Munich policeman died and five terrorists were dead.

The significance of Operation ‘Greatest Revenge’ is powerful. But there’s more… In August 2020 the director of the new Berlin Jewish Museum proudly declared “We are here, not in Israel!” Director Hetty Berg reopened the Museum in August after a coronavirus shut down last March.

In her interview with the Jewish Telegraph Agency Berg said:

“After the war, it became the place where a lot of the work on memory and the “Vergangenheitsbewältigung” [coping with the past] also took place.” She added: “So there’s a lot going on here in Berlin because it also attracts many Jews from all over the place, and they have new ideas, and that makes it also a very exciting place to be. This is something that I would like for the museum to give a podium to—these new ideas and these new initiatives.” (jta.org)

In the 1950s Israeli passports declared ‘valid in any country other than Germany.’ Trade with Germany was prohibited. Understandably tensions were tight.

In 1952 German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and Israeli PM, David Ben Gurion took the first courageous steps towards reparation. Adenauer a Catholic Christian had a long interest and respect for Judaism. The Germans agreed to the payment of $1.95 billion (US) and Adenauer won respect and trust by ensuring the money was paid on time.

In his book ‘Unlikely Friendship: David Ben Gurion and Konrad Adenauer’ author Michael Borchard wrote:

“Had it not been for the combination of these two forceful politicians it would certainly have taken far longer for Germany and Israel to come to terms with one another. It was anything but self-evident.”
This was the first step up a very high mountain.

Before leaving Israel for the historic flyover the IAF Commander Maj. Gen Amikam Norkin met with Holocaust survivors.

“We are leaving for this exercise with a sense of mission, empowered by those who were there,” he said.

The Israeli Air Force “Kheil HaAvar” in Hebrew, has played a major role in the confidence in Israel today.
The national media applauded the Air Force flyover. Proudly they reported Israel was the nation the world thought would be broken and shattered. With wheels up over Germany, they proved the critics wrong.

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Ron Ross

Ron Ross resigned his TV career to attend Bible College. His life has been dedicated to missions and ministry. After 9 years as pastor at Noosa Baptist Church, Ron and his wife Yvonne moved to Jerusalem. He broadcast news from Israel and the Middle East to Christian networks around the world. He continues to broadcast Israel and Middle East news for Vision Christian Radio on Tuesdays.

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