IAF Commander MG Tomer Bar on Friday visited Tel Nof Air Force Base, during his visit, he spoke with Israeli Air Force technicians at the base and emphasized their decisive contribution to Operation "Roaring Lion."
"The first 72 hours - there is no air force in the world that could have delivered what you delivered," Bar began. "It is impressive by any standard. What happened here was a race against time - to put a kind of 'blanket' in place and suppress all the surface-to-surface fire that at any moment could have been launched toward the State of Israel."
"And you saw it - there were missile barrages. It wasn’t zero. But the offensive effort that we applied in a very, very aggressive way saved many lives. Every aircraft you prepared, every malfunction you fixed - essentially created the core of the operational deception.
"It worked. And after those first 72 hours, once you saw that the volume of fire had dropped, we reached peak lethality - at a good and correct pace. And we will not stop. We will not stop."
"I see the determination in your eyes, and I want to tell you how very, very proud I am," he added.
"To sit down and know that you are sitting on a combat aircraft that you prepared, that you ensure everything works and can be trusted - and that we will also return safely - that is an extraordinary feeling. A true feeling of pride."