Israel’s air force is getting a new chief.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak named Major-General Ido Nehushtan as the new IAF commander over the weekend.
Nehushtan, 51, will replace Major-General Eliezer Shkedy, who is expected to retire from the military.
The handover will take place over the coming weeks.
Nehushtan currently serves as chief of operations for the Israel Defense Forces, a post that has likely prepared him for the biggest challenge facing the IAF – delivering, if required, a preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear sites.
Nehushtan has been key to reforming the armed forces in the wake of the 2006 Second Lebanon War and now takes the helm as the air force prepares to incorporate new aircraft such as the advanced F-35, which is expected to be delivered from the United States early in the next decade.
