Gilad Keinan

Gilad Keinan was born in 1976 in Israel

Gilad Keinan was born in 1976 and grew up on Kibbutz Re'im. He is married and has 3 children.

He holds a degree in biotechnology engineering from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He also earned a master's degree in national resource management from the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

He enlisted in 1994 and finished flight course 134 with honors in 1996 as a fighter pilot. He flew the F-16 in Squadrons 140 and 253, served as a deputy commander in Squadrons 144 and 106, and later commanded Squadrons 133 and 253. From 2016 he headed the air attack department, where he directed the control room during strikes in Syria in 2018.

He commanded Ramon base from 2018 and Nevatim base from 2021 to 2023. In August 2023 he became head of the Air Operations Directorate and held the post during the Swords of Iron war and Operation Rising Lion. In November 2025 he was appointed Air Force chief of staff.