(Jerusalem Post) Anna Ahronheim - Forty Israel Air Force cadets from the three-year, intensive flight course, including three women, will get their wings on Thursday. Of the 600 cadets who pass the preliminary tests, only 30-40 will successfully complete the course. Course graduates receive a Bachelor's degree from Ben-Gurion University and the rank of lieutenant. The graduation ceremony will take place on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Jewish Defense Organizations - armed militia groups that included the Haganah, Palmach, Lehi, Etzel [Irgun] and others which protected Jews before the establishment of the State of Israel. The course graduates invited Mordechai Raflowitz, an Etzel fighter and grandfather of one of the graduates, to visit the flight school. "When I fought in the Irgun ranks as a Holocaust survivor, the rosiest future I dreamed of was the establishment of the state. Now, my granddaughter will receive her pilots' wings, and I feel that my heart cannot contain my joy and pride," Raflowitz said of his granddaughter, Lt. Y.
2020-06-22 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive