Giora Romm Giora Romm ( , born 1945 ) is a former deputy commander of the Israeli Air Force ( IAF ) , Israel ' s former military attaché in the United States and the current director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel . Romm was the Israeli Air Force ' s first jet ace , scoring five kills during the 1967 Six Day War . In 1969 , during the War of Attrition , Romm was shot down and spent several months in Egyptian captivity . He commanded the IAF ' s 115 Squadron through the intensive fighting of the 1973 Yom Kippur War and participated in Operation Wooden Leg , the 1985 raid against PLO headquarters in Tunisia . Military service . Born in Tel - Aviv in 1945 , Romm enlisted in the Israel Defence Forces in 1962 and attended Israeli Air Force flight course 43 . Initially flying the Dassault Ouragan and Mystère , Romm soon converted to the Dassault Mirage III which he flew with the 119 " Bat " Squadron at Tel Nof . Six Day War . Romm was 22 at the outbreak of the Six Day War and in the span of three days became the IAF ' s first jet ace , shooting down five enemy aircraft . When Israel launched operation Focus on June 5 , 1967 , Romm was one of the few pilots who were not tasked with striking Egyptian air bases , remaining at Tel Nof on quick reaction alert instead . When Israeli Mysteres attacking the air base at Abu Suwayr encountered Egyptian Air Force MiG - 21 s , Romm and fellow pilot Eitan Karmi were scrambled to the scene . In the ensuing dogfight , each pilot shot down a pair of MiG - 21s . That same afternoon , Romm was part of a 119 squadron formation that struck T - 4 Syrian Air Force base . Two MiG - 21s attempting to defend the base were shot down , one by Romm and the other by Asher Snir . On June 6 Romm ' s aircraft was hit by anti - aircraft fire while leading a strike against Syrian positions on the Golan Heights . Suffering a light injury , Romm brought his stricken aircraft to a landing at Ramat David . He was back flying the next day , June 7 , when he scored his final kills of the war . A 119 squadron three - ship formation was vectored to intercept Egyptian MiG - 17 s attacking Israel forces in the Sinai and Romm shot down two to become the IAF ' s first jet ace . Although other aces had served with the IAF before , Romm was also the first to score all five kills while flying for the IAF ( as opposed to pilots who had scored while flying with allied air forces in WWII ) . A " Segen " ( lieutenant ) at the time , IAF commander Mordechai Hod incorrectly addressed Romm as a " Seren " ( captain ) at a victory dinner several weeks after the war . At the instigation of his fellow pilots , Hod promptly promoted Romm to the rank . War of Attrition and captivity . By 1969 Romm was slated to convert to the F - 4 Phantom . In September 1969 , however , he was shot down and captured by the Egyptians . On September 9 the IDF had carried out Operation Raviv , a mounted raid into Egyptian territory , and on September 11 Egypt responded with a large air raid on Israeli positions in the Sinai . Scrambled to the scene , Romm was pursuing a pair of MiG - 21s when he was hit by another MiG he had failed to spot , reportedly flown by Major Fawzi Salama . Romm bailed out of his Mirage and landed in the Egyptian Delta , suffering multiple injuries . Denied proper medical attention , he was held at a prison at Abbassia , near Cairo , where he was repeatedly beaten and tortured . On December 5 , after three months in captivity , Romm and fellow pilot Nissim Ashkenazi were released in a prisoner exchange . Hospitalized for 4 months , he was able to return to flying , and was eventually assigned command of an IAF flight school squadron . Yom Kippur War . On October 3 , 1973 , 115 Squadron lost its commanding officer , Ami Gadish , when his A - 4 Skyhawk crashed during a training sortie . On Friday , October 5 , Romm took command of the squadron , despite having never flown the Skyhawk nor serving with the unit . The Yom Kippur War broke out the very next day , and Romm ' s first flight was a combat sortie targeting Egyptian troops crossing the Suez Canal . Joining " Tulip " formation as its number 4 , Romm familiarized himself with the aircraft en route to the target . He later described the sortie : The squadron was eventually to fly 750 sorties throughout the war , losing 7 aircraft . 5 pilots were killed and 2 made prisoners of war . Later Service . Romm commanded 115 Squadron until 1976 , when he was appointed head of the research department at Lamdan , the IAF ' s Air Intelligence Directorate . In 1980 he was assigned command of the new airbase constructed at Ramon , and in 1984 went on to command Tel Nof , largest of all IAF bases . As commander of Tel Nof , in 1985 he participated in operation Wooden Leg , flying one of the F - 15 Eagle s that struck PLO headquarters in Tunisia . In 1987 Romm became the deputy to the head of the IDF Operations Directorate and in 1987 deputy IAF commander , a role he played during the 1991 Gulf War . Shortly after the war he was promoted to Major General and appointed Israeli military attaché in the United States . Returning to Israel , he retired from military service in early 1996 . Civilian career . Upon leaving the military , Romm was appointed director of the Ministry of National Infrastructure , under then - minister Ariel Sharon . He later entered the private sector and from September 2001 served as the director general of the Jewish Agency for Israel . In 2008 he was appointed director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel . Romm holds a B . A . in Economics and Political Science from Bar Ilan University and an MBA from UCLA . He has served as a senior researcher at the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs and since 2005 has been chairman of Mezilah , the Center for Zionist , Jewish , Liberal and Humanist Thought . Married to Miriam , he is the father of a daughter and two sons . In 2008 Romm published his autobiography , " Tzivony Arba " ( Tulip Four ) , for which he won the 2009 Yitzhak Sadeh Prize for military literature .