Shlomo Egozi

Shlomo Egozi was born in 1945 in Kfar Menahem

Shlomo Egozi was born in 1945 on Kibbutz Kfar Menahem. He joined the Israeli Air Force in November 1963. He finished the pilot course as a fighter pilot in July 1965.

In the Six-Day War he flew Mirage jets in Squadron 119 and took part in the attack on the Egyptian airfield at Inshas. About a month after the war he was hit by anti-aircraft fire and bailed out in Sinai, where a helicopter rescued him. He then moved to the Phantom and fought in the War of Attrition with Squadron 69.

In 1971 he attended the United States Navy Top Gun course in California. He served as deputy commander of Squadrons 115 and 107, and on 13 September 1973 he shot down a Syrian MiG-21. On 6 October 1973, in the Yom Kippur War, he downed 5 Egyptian helicopters and received a citation from the air force commander.

He commanded Squadron 119 from 1976 to 1978. In 1978 he led the project to choose the air force's next fighter, and his team recommended the F/A-18L, but the defense minister chose the design that became the Lavi. From 1982 to 1985 he headed the flight safety department as a colonel, and he retired from operational flying in 1993 as a brigadier general.

He is married to Sarah. He is a member of Commanders for Israel's Security.