Iftach Spector

Iftach Spector was born in 1940 in Jerusalem

Iftach Spector was born in 1940. His parents were both members of the Palmach. His father, Zvi Spector, commanded a failed 1941 Palmach mission in Lebanon in which all participants died, and his mother, Shoshana Spector, served as the Palmach adjutant officer. He grew up on kibbutz Givat Brenner and kibbutz Hulata.

He joined pilot training in 1958 and flew Super Mystère and later Mirage 3 jets. In the Six-Day War he led the pair of aircraft that attacked the American ship USS Liberty, in which 34 American crewmen were killed. He said he believed the ship was an enemy vessel and acted on the intelligence available at the time.

He commanded Squadron 101 and then founded a Phantom squadron, which he led in the Yom Kippur War. He later headed Air Force operations, helped found the Shaldag unit, commanded Ramat David and Tel Nof air bases, and took part in Operation Opera in 1981. He left the army in 1985 as a brigadier general.

After his release he invented the HALO avionics system for helicopters at Elbit and founded several companies. His 1991 book A Dream in Blue and Black won the Yitzhak Sadeh Prize. In 2003 he signed the pilots' letter refusing missions in the territories and was removed from reserve duty.

In 2014 he founded the movement Personal Example. He received a doctorate from Bar-Ilan University in 2023. He is married to Aliza Samuel and they have 4 children.