Amos Amir

Amos Amir was born in 1935 in Tel Aviv

Amir was born in Tel Aviv in 1935 and grew up there. His mother was the poet Anda Amir-Pinkerfeld, an Israel Prize laureate, and his father Arie Amir was active in the Haganah. At 16 he moved to study at the Kadoorie agricultural school.

He joined the IDF in 1954 and finished flight school in 1958 with distinction. He fought in the Six-Day War and commanded the Bat Squadron in the War of Attrition, and later headed Air Force operations, Hatzor and Tel Nof bases, and an air division. He credited 7 enemy aircraft downed and left the IDF after he was not named Air Force commander.

He held a bachelor's degree in philosophy and general studies from Tel Aviv University and a master's degree in management from the US Naval school in California.

After retiring he joined El Al as deputy director general and vice president for operations. In 2002 he became head of the Civil Aviation Authority and resigned about a year later. In 2009 he ran for the Knesset with the Strong Israel party led by Ephraim Sneh.

He wrote an autobiographical novel published in 2000 and a children's book in 2010. He was married twice and had 3 children. He died in 2016 and was buried in Kfar Saba.