The helicopter carrying President Isaac Herzog was forced to make an emergency landing Thursday evening after a bird strike.
Herzog was returning from the state memorial ceremony marking 12 years since Operation Protective Edge when the helicopter landed at an IDF base. The aircraft was transferred for inspection, and Herzog continued his schedule in another helicopter, heading to visit a bereaved family.
President Isaac Herzog
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that “during a routine flight by the president in an IDF helicopter, the helicopter landed at an air force base in central Israel following a bird strike. There were no injuries and no damage was caused.”
The IDF said the flight crew was transferred to another helicopter as part of a routine procedure and continued the flight. The helicopter was moved for further handling by air force technical teams so it could be returned to regular service as soon as possible. The incident is being investigated.
Earlier Thursday, Herzog attended the state memorial ceremony for fallen soldiers of Operation Protective Edge, where he delivered remarks and laid a wreath.
The ceremony was preceded by public criticism over the absence, for the first time, of both the prime minister and defense minister. Against that backdrop, the government sent Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi to represent it.
“Following Hamas’ barbaric attack on October 7 and the war that followed, we have reached a situation in which the IDF holds about 60% of the Gaza Strip,” Herzog said at the ceremony. “Now we must work to implement President Trump’s 21-point plan, above all the disarmament of Hamas.”
Hundreds attended the ceremony, including the deputy IDF chief of staff, Knesset member Benny Gantz, who served as IDF chief of staff during Operation Protective Edge, Knesset member Michel Buskila and representatives of bereaved families.
“As we are in the midst of a long campaign, we remember well the campaign of that time, its heroes and its fallen,” Herzog said. “The wounds do not heal, and the memory remains alive and fresh. The faces of the fallen stand before us, clear and bright, beautiful and present.”
He added that Operation Protective Edge “was and remains a defining point.”
“The tunnel threat that appeared for the first time in the arena, the expansion of rocket fire to wide areas, and of course the hostage threat,” Herzog said. “How much we learned from those battles, how much we went through in those long weeks of intense fighting, and how much we still must learn. It is clear to us today that Operation Protective Edge was the opening signal for a long and painful series of developments.”