A joint Israeli-German aerial exercise, which lasted two weeks on German soil and in German skies, wrapped up over the weekend.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit released a statement in which it underscored that the “The exercise was a significant milestone in the process of strengthening the international-strategic cooperation between Israel and Germany and was beneficial to both forces.”
Upon conclusion of the drill, the Head of the Israel Air Force (IAF) Air Division, Brig. Gen. Amir Lazar, commented that, “we are summing up a meaningful and historic deployment here, and we are looking forward to a different future, a better future with more cooperation with the German Air Force. We are summing up a high-quality deployment, from which we learned a lot and we intend to use these lessons to be implemented in our area of operations.”
The Commander of the IAF 105th Squadron, who can be identified only as Lt. Col. “A,” said that, “The cooperation between the State of Israel and Germany, and between the Air Forces, in recent years has tightened. It has quickly turned into a close, brave and personal friendship, wherein we have created a commitment for both states’ future, and a commitment to strengthen our mutual cooperation along the way.”
“We can learn a lot from the Israelis, how they prepare, how they do their work, and especially how they understand the situation in which we are,” remarked Germany’s Deputy Commander of the Novenich Air Force Base, Lt. Col. Mbassa Samuel, adding, “So we can share experiences that we have which is the biggest thing in terms of understanding, so if one day we are called to work together we’ll be able to work together without having to discuss issues beforehand.”
It is important to explain that the international event, dubbed “MAG Days,” is held four times a year as part of operational preparations for a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exercise, in which several of the organization’s member states participate.
This was the first time in history that the Israeli Air Force joined in the drill.