The IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz was among the top IDF officers who took part in a maritime father-son parachuting exercise off Israel's northern coast this week.
Besides Lt. Gen. Gantz, participants included Maj. Gen. Yair Golan and two of his sons, Navy Commander Maj. Gen. Ram Rothberg, who brought along his father and a nephew, and Maj. Gen. Gershon Hacohen, whose son also participated.
Some of the participants, however, were young paratroopers who are not related to the senior officers.
Maj. Itzik Peretz, Commander of the Parachuting School, explained to the IDF Website: "The idea strengthens the bonds between fathers and sons through the parachute jump, strengthens the connection to the past and raises morale and pride in the field of parachuting."
Maj. Peretz said that the jump was packed with adrenaline, and that the connection between fathers and sons added to the excitement. He added that while the IDF's last operational combat paratroop jump took part in 1956, future use of parachutes for landing men and materiel in enemy territory is a possibility, and that the IDF is prepared for it.