"The best join the Air Force" is much more than just a slogan to the Israel Air Force manpower branch head, Brigadier-General Rami Ben-Efraim. In an interview to Ynet, Ben-Efraim said that out of every flying course class, the majority of the top third of the graduates stays on and continues to serve in the air force beyond the mandatory period, and "this is how a very strong team is built."
Ben-Efraim is a fighter pilot by training, and was appointed head of the manpower branch in 2008. He says he is careful not to enter operational territory, but admits there is a close link between the quality of the personnel and the operational results.
"My job is to man the Air Force as strong as I can," he said. "This statement is always true, but even more so today, when you know you can be called to action at any moment," he said, hinting to the Iranian nuclear threat.
Ben-Efraim said that his job also comes with a lot of work in the emotional and mental field, as the pilots must be prepared for any mission, and not just in the operation aspect. He said he is in constant contact with the fighters in the air, and that this investment is what helped them carry out their missions so accurately in Operation Cast Lead ,despite the international criticism.
"Today, one year later, we certainly consider the operation a success," he said. "I was present at the operational decision-making forum, and I think we would have done the same thing. It is my feeling that in the Air Force today, people are at ease in the moral and ethical aspects over the way we acted and our ability to fix mistakes along the way, we can be proud of what we did."
'Blue Dawn' project
Ben-Efraim also addressed the Air Force's plans to bring in more ultra-Orthodox soldiers, in hopes of integrating them into technical jobs. The "Blue Dawn" project already includes hundreds of soldiers, who serve for two years and receive NIS 3,000 (about $800) per month in return.
Ben-Efraim is very proud of this project, and said, "When you look at the threats facing the Israeli society today, there are some that are much more significant than the threats from Iran – at least in my narrow viewpoint, as head of the manpower branch.
"There is a central chunk of the society here with a significant reproduction rate, which bites into a large part of the State's budget and does not participate enough in the workforce. One of the main keys to solving this problem, I believe, is through the military."
While he has no delusions as to the motives of the young haredi men who join the force, he says the ends justify the means. "There is no doubt that they are doing it for their own benfit, they also want to make money, but we are gaining quality personnel," he said.
And the ultra-Orthodox soldiers, he says, get more connected with the State: "For the first time, they learn to sing Hatikva (the Israeli national anthem), stand during the siren on Holocaust Remembrance Day, and salute the flag of Israel in uniform."
Ben-Efraim pointed out that the force already has two haredi officers, and a third who has recently completed the officers course. He said the IAF now hopes to expand the project, and its representatives are slated to meet with rabbis from the various streams of the haredi sector in the near future.