Raid on the Sun(43)

Finally, Ivry, annoyed, snapped at him. “Okay, okay, you’re in. Now go away!”

Nachumi pointed out that early on, IAF had planned that the mission would be made up of two formations of four planes, one drawn from each squadron, Raz’s 117 and Nachumi’s 110. Nachumi argued that missions were assigned to squadrons, not men, so he and Raz were equal. Raz—and the majority of the pilots—considered himself the mission leader and Nachumi the leader of the second team. This rivalry caused some friction between the pilots. Some on Raz’s team considered themselves one eight-man attack squadron working together. Why split it up? The men found themselves constantly gravitating between Nachumi and Raz. Both were terrific pilots and both had very strong egos. But there was a distinct personality difference between the two. Each had followed a different career path to arrive at command. Nachumi came from Spector’s crack Phantom group in Beersheba in the south. Raz had moved up through northern command fighting in Syria and the Golan Heights and was close to Ivry. Raz was detail-oriented, no-funny-business, acutely sensitive to any challenge to his authority. Nachumi was more outgoing and not at all reticent about his accomplishments and his talents. This unspoken rivalry brought a sharper edge to the inevitable competition between two strong, ambitious leaders and, in turn, their two competing squadrons. It fell to Iftach Spector to play the diplomat, smoothing things over, controlling a rivalry that could actually be healthy by keeping the men focused and finely tuned.

Spector’s move to force himself into the mission, and going over Ivry’s head to do it, tipped this delicate balance and brought some of those vague, lingering feelings below boiling to the surface. Ivry, understandably, was annoyed. He could not believe that Spector would have the “bad form” to go over his head. It was disrespectful. Raz and Falk were furious. It was likely that Falk, who had rotated into a secured slot when Amitay had died, would be bumped to backup status if Spector were assigned to the mission. He couldn’t help resenting it. The men had spent nearly a year training for the mission together. Now at the last minute the base commander wanted to walk in and grab a spot. Falk thought to himself, “Hey, come on, you had your time. Give it to the kids.”

As for Raz, he had never held Spector in any particular awe. If anything, Raz was probably a little contemptuous of Nachumi and the others’ reverence for the commander. He respected Spector’s combat record and career as much as the next man, but who was he to think he had the right to simply walk onto Raz’s squadron? He never even approached Raz, the group leader. To add insult to injury, Spector would knock his friend Rani out of the mission.

Even the men who had more or less been Spector’s disciples—Yaffe, Katz, and Yadlin—felt that adding the commander to the mission at such a late date was not a good idea. Despite his peerless abilities as a combat pilot, the fact was, Spector did not have the expertise in the sophisticated F-16 that the other pilots did. And it was not fair to bump one of the men who had trained so long and so hard. As a group, the pilots met with General Ivry and informed him of their opinion.

Despite the opposition, General Eitan could not bring himself to disappoint his most heralded commander. He called Ivry and, as much friend as superior, asked the IAF head to make room in the mission for Spector. After all, he was already the men’s commander. Ivry relented. But, he insisted, Raz stayed mission leader.

Ivry informed the squadron leaders in person. Iftach Spector was a member of the Osirak mission.

“I won’t have him in my squad,” Raz bridled.

An awkward silence fell among the airmen.

“He can be my wingman,” Nachumi said.

Spector was assigned as second-in-command of the second team and as sixth pilot in the bombing run, following second team leader Nachumi. As the senior officer, it was a bit awkward and certainly unconventional for the commander to be under the command of junior officers, but Spector was not going to complain.

As simple as that: Spector was in, Falk was out. Falk was respectful, but decidedly cool around the commander. Raz, all business, swallowed the decision and moved on. But, it would turn out, the squadron was transformed in a much deeper sense than anyone suspected. For the first time, it became obvious that there were now two teams. And two team leaders. Spector was no longer just the base commander: he was a member of the second group, Nachumi’s team. The commander was aware of the latent animosity, but he was determined to overcome it. He took his place on the mission team. He was friendly, unassuming. He respected each of the pilots and was sure, given time, that they would accept him. In any event, he wasn’t going anywhere.