Former Israeli Air Force Commander: “The Entire Scenery of the Middle East Has Changed”

In a candid conversation, former Israeli Air Force Commander and JINSA Distinguished Fellow Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Amikam Norkin shared the difficult feelings that accompany him as someone who was exposed to the depth of the investigation into the failure, and explained why despite the impressive achievements now, the stain of October 7th will not be erased.

“Personally, even though I wasn’t in the service, I feel and I assume like any military man who served for decades, I feel shame. Embarrassment. I look down on myself,” Norkin admitted to Gideon Oko and Amichai Atali.

Norkin, who was part of the committee that examined the IDF investigations headed by Major General Sami Turgeman, stated firmly: “I say as a military man that there is a military failure. The Air Force conducted a very professional investigation, was strict with itself. We were unable to stop the parachutes, paragliders and drones.” He added a resounding professional assessment: “I am assuming that if the Air Force had been activated during the night, things would have looked different.”

Norkin analyzed the strategic cooperation with the United States in the current campaign, which he defined as “a process built over time.” According to him, “The Americans are leading the campaign, and when the Americans are leading the campaign in this matter, there are many positive consequences, but there are also consequences that we do not fully control.” He expressed pride in the Israeli command culture, referring to the participation of the current Air Force commander in the attack on Iran: “I was not surprised. This is the culture of the IDF, where commanders set an example.”

When asked about his personal future and the possibility of entering politics, Norkin did not rule out the move outright, but made it clear that he was not currently considering it. “We may enter the military under this stretcher, but right now it is not something that concerns me,” he said. In response to Oko’s question about whether this is feasible in the future, he replied: “Maybe. We will leave it without setting a time.”

He then referred to the Air Force’s activity in Iran and gave his interpretation of it: “I did not imagine such an event. The pace, intensity, and speed of the achievements in the first few days are very worthy of appreciation from both the American and Israeli sides. We did not have in our plans a scenario of prolonged fighting at such ranges. This was made possible by the sequence of events we have been experiencing in the last two years and what happened in Iran in recent months. The previous campaign is not something that happens at the stroke of a knife, it is something that is emerging.”

He added, “The distance has not changed. They were preparing for distances, for missions, but when you listen to the goals of the war now, at the time we were preparing mainly to damage the nuclear array, and today the goals of the war have expanded to include the issue of ballistic missiles, the weapons industries, and damaging the pillars of the regime, and this cannot be done in a short war. The entire scenery of the Middle East has changed. The fact that it is possible to fly in some places in the Middle East with complete superiority allows for things that were not possible in the past.”

He then referred to the regional superiority of the Air Force in the Middle East that has been achieved in the last two years: “From a tactical-operational point of view, the significance when we can fly in a place where we have air superiority, for example through Syrian airspace, an event that resulted from the collapse of the Assad regime, allows planes to fly at lower altitudes. When they fly at lower altitudes, they consume less fuel and can reach longer ranges. This allows planes of all types to carry out the mission in Iran, not just advanced generation planes.”

According to Norkin, “this allows aerial refueling in these spaces in a more convenient way. This changes the fundamental components of how you plan the ongoing fighting. This is different in Iranian airspace; in Iran itself, there is no total air superiority. Iranians are people who fight for their country and the enemy here must be treated with great respect and suspicion. The Air Force flies in a situation where there is are threats, and one must prepare for it. The country there is large and there are more dangerous and less dangerous areas.”

He also discussed the deep trust that has been created between the Israeli Air Force and the US Air Force, claiming: “The basis of the partnership is a sense of mutual trust, trust in each other’s capabilities. Over the past decade, the US Air Force has been exposed to Israeli capabilities and what the technology industries are developing in terms of technology and performance levels. It has been exposed to what the State of Israel can do with American equipment, in this case the F-35.”

He added,”The Americans have seen our air defense systems. This ongoing collaboration, the joint training, has created a sense of trust, and in essence, a system has been built that is slowly learning to work together. We are the ant walking next to the elephant, we need to know how to work with the American system.”