Eli Eyal

Eli Eyal was born in 1923 in Celle

Eli Eyal was born Eliyahu Feingersh in Celle, Germany, the eighth child in a large family. In 1939 he came to the Land of Israel with Youth Aliyah and settled at Kibbutz Sarid. His parents, three sisters and younger brother were killed in the Holocaust.

He joined the Palmach in 1941 and served as a machine gunner and squad commander. He took part in the Night of the Bridges and was among the first members of the Palmach air unit. In 1948 he flew Auster planes to the Negev and commanded the Negev Squadron.

In the Air Force he commanded 7 squadrons, the officers school and the Sde Dov base. He left the IDF in 1953 and returned in 1956. He fought in the Sinai War and in the Six-Day War, when he led Fouga planes in the Jerusalem area.

From 1972 to 1974 he was secretary of the Zionist Federation in Europe, based in Zurich. He worked as a journalist and military commentator and played tennis in every Maccabiah held in Israel. In 2009 he completed a master's degree at Bar-Ilan University, and he died that year in Ramat HaSharon.