Eitan Ben Eliyahu

Eliyahu's father was born in Khorramshahr, Iran, and in 1922 immigrated to British-mandated Palestine; Eliyahu's mother was from North Macedonia.^[2][3] Eliyahu himself was born in Jerusalem in 1944.^[1] During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Eliyahu shot down two Egyptian fighters as he led a squadron of F-4 Phantoms. June 27, 1979 over Lebanon, while flying an F-15 Eagle as part of a 4 ship formation, he shot down a Syrian MiG 21 with the M61 cannon scoring the first recorded guns kill (the 3rd air to air kill) for the F-15. In 1981 he flew as fighter escort during Operation Opera, which resulted in the destruction of Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor.^[1] Eliyahu was commander of an F-15 squadron, member of the IAF Aerobatic Team,^[4] a base commander, head of the Operational Requirements Division, and in 1987 was appointed Head of Operations for the IAF.^[5] On July 1, 1996 Eliyahu was promoted to Commander of the IAF.^[6] Over the course of his tenure Eliyahu focused on extending the range of IAF operations, especially in regard to Iran.^[1] As such, Eliyahu ordered 25 F-15I fighters, which had a longer range than Israel's previously purchased F-15s.^[1] Eliyahu stepped down as IAF commander on April 4, 2000.^[6]

Since leaving active duty, Eliyahu is founder and CEO of the Sentry Technology Group, and was the president of East West Ventures Ltd. from 2000 to 2002.^[7] He is the chairman of the Koret Foundation's Israel Economic Development Fund and of Aeronautics Defense systems,^[8] and co-Chair of the Israel National Museum of Science. Eliyahu is also on the boards of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Zionism 2000, the Israel Democracy Institute, and the Rabin Research Center.^[5][7]

Eliyahu studied at Bar Ilan University, where he received a B.A. in economics and business administration. He also earned an M.A.^[9] from Tel Aviv University in strategy and international relations and attended Harvard's six-week Advanced Management Program.^[10]