Yehuda Weisenstein

Yehuda Weisenstein was born in 1955

Yehuda Weisenstein, also known as Moshe Yehuda Weinstein, was born on 11 March 1955. He grew up in Rosh Pina and went to high school in Safed. As a youth he belonged to the Hapoel Rosh Pina and Hapoel Safed sports clubs.

He won the Israeli youth foil championship in 1969 and fenced at senior and junior world championships. At the 1972 Munich Olympics he was the youngest member of the Israeli team. He won 2 bouts and lost 3 in the first round, then lost all 5 bouts in the second round.

During the terrorist attack on the Israeli team, the attackers passed by his apartment. He slipped out and led his teammates to safety through the balcony. In 1973 he won the Israeli fencing championship and a gold medal at the Maccabiah, and later won 2 more gold medals at the following Maccabiah.

He joined the IDF and later completed the pilots' course as a fighter pilot. He flew Skyhawk, Phantom and Falcon jets and took part in strike and photo missions in the First Lebanon War. He served as deputy commander of a Phantom squadron and as head of the Air Force history branch.

After the army he became a pilot and captain at Arkia. He held several management roles there and was vice president of operations from 2017 to 2021.