Eliezer Shkedi

Aluf Eliezer Shkedi (Hebrew: אליעזר שקדי; born 16 August 1957) is the current CEO of the Israeli national airline, El Al. Prior to that he was a general (aluf) in the Israel Defense Forces and a Commander in Chief of the Israeli Air Force. Shkedi, a resident of Yehud-Monosson, was born in Israel and after graduating from high school in Kfar Saba he joined the IDF in 1975. He volunteered to attend the flight academy and graduated as a fighter pilot. Shkedi was a member of several units before he was assigned to Hatzerim air force base. He was based there during the 1982 Lebanon War in which he shot down two enemy aircraft. In the mid-1980s Shkedi studied at Ben-Gurion University, receiving a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Computer Science. He continued his career in the airforce until the mid-1990s when he studied for an M.A. in Systems management at the US Naval Postgraduate School. He was promoted to Commander in Chief of the Israeli Air Force on April 4, 2004 and was replaced by Aluf Ido Nehoshtan on May 13, 2008.

General Shkedi was appointed campaign commander against countries that do not border Israel. This put him in charge of Israeli Iran Command, which was set up to be the overall coordinator of Israeli military and intelligence against Iran should a war start. Although the appointment was reported in late August 2006, it was said to have occurred before the 2006 conflict in Lebanon began.