The girl who bombed Gaza
First female fighter pilot launches missile at tunnel-digging terrorists near Karni crossing
Among the scores of Israel Air Force pilots participating in the numerous sorties and attacks on Gaza in recent days was Capt. Roni, the first female fighter pilot in the IAF. Roni, pilot of an F-16C fighter jet, took part Friday night in an attack on a tunnel near Karni crossing. At 2 AM, squadron planes took off from Hazor base, led by a senior reserves pilot. Roni was the squadron's number two.
The operation commander attacked first, and launched a bomb in the direction of a poultry coop, underneath which was a tunnel. Roni launched a bomb next, also hitting the target. According to IDF sources, digging had begun in recent days, to create a tunnel through which terrorists could infiltrate and attack Israel.
This is the second time the IAF has launched an aerial attack in order to demolish a tunnel. The first time occurred two years ago, when the IAF took out a tunnel, leading from Gaza to Egypt, under the Philadelphi Route.
Roni is the IAF's first female fighter pilot. She completed the flight course in 2001 and became famous when Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, revealed her name at the course's graduation ceremony. Since the IAF flight course became coeducational, more than a decade ago, only 13 women have managed to graduate, with Roni the only one thus far to qualify as a fighter pilot.
According to IAF statistics, upon being accepted to the flight course, females have a much lower probability of completing the course than males, with a 20 percent success rate for males compared to a less than 5 percent success rate for females. A number of administrative studies have been conducted to try and lessen this discrepancy, but, thus far, to no avail.
