The identities of Israeli fighter pilots are one of Israel’s biggest mysteries. In the media, pilots are identified by a silhouette and the first letter of their name, a privilege not even reserved for the head of the Mossad intelligence agency.

This elite group of selected individuals has been at the front line of the current standoff between Israel and Hizbullah. Israeli fighter planes have taken out thousands of targets in Lebanon since mid-July, and Israel has been accused of applying disproportionate force, as more than 300 Lebanese have been killed in these aerial attacks.

But despite their tough and somewhat callous image, Israeli fighter pilots face mental challenges, moral dilemmas and complex decisions.

Brig. Gen. (ret.) Amir Nakhumi, a former F-16 fighter pilot with the Israeli Air Force, was a commander in the bombing of the Osiraq nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981. He provided some insights as to what a war looks like from a cockpit.

Q: How much information are pilots given about their target before the mission?

A: We are given all the information necessary to locate it, to aim at it, and to know what type of ammunition to use against it. We also get information about anti-aircraft threats around the target and on the way to the target, as well as information about weather conditions.

Q: Are you told whether innocent civilians can get hurt in the mission?

A: Absolutely. Within the package of the information we get on the target, we get an attachment describing the vicinity of non-involved persons and civilian installations. Sometimes there are civilian installations in such proximity that we have to use pinpoint ammunition. The commanders who decide to go ahead and attack this target have to take responsibility for the collateral damage.

While we are aiming, or hitting the launch button, we also have the responsibility to look and see that nothing has changed from what we have been briefed on.

Q: Are you familiar with reports that Israel is using artillery-fired cluster munitions in populated areas in Lebanon?

A: No.

Q: How do explain the fact that so many Lebanese have been killed in aerial attacks since fighting began?

A: Civilians are sitting with Hizbullah in the same room. We inform them in advance through leaflets and even through phone calls, but if they insist on staying there, what can we do? Hizbullah are fighting and hiding behind the civilians.

There is collateral damage because of the proximity of civilians to Hizbullah targets, but we try to minimize it. These civilians are knowingly in proximity to Hizbullah targets and it’s their responsibility.

Q: What goes through your mind when you know civilians are going to be killed in aiming at a strategic target?

A: This is a state of mind, and it all depends on the context within which we’re operating. If we’re in a context when something has happened and we have to retaliate or demonstrate something, that’s one thing.

If we’re in a war and we know that what we’re doing is in direct relation to preventing our citizens, our homes and our families from being hit, this is a different context.

We recognize that while we have been told by intelligence about the proximity and the number of civilians that might be hit by collateral damage, we still have both the responsibility and the freedom to make a decision and not to hit the launch button.

Q: Does the army provide you with psychological support to deal with situations such as these?

A: Very generally. We are all very carefully selected along the way and our personality is also examined in the early stages. For many years I was an instructor in the flight academy of the Israeli Air Force. One of the important characteristics of the young cadets was their mental ability: their inner strength, their belief in the system and their ability to criticize and to make their own decisions.

We have a lot of discussions and I can tell you that in every briefing, the first point is the target and the second point is avoiding collateral damage. This is always the second point and it comes before flight safety.

Q: When you were a flight instructor, what were the main concerns of your cadets?

A: To be honest, their main concerns were whether they were fit, and whether they had the capability to survive the flying course which is very challenging and difficult. I don’t think they can internalize and understand the feelings that they would experience in a war situation.

Q: What goes through your mind when you’re in a plane flying over enemy territory?

A: We’re very alert at that point. We need to get to the exact target we were sent to and we have to identify it without any mistakes. Secondly, we are very much alert to the threats around us, coming from the ground or from the air.

Third, when we are in the bomb run, we need to make sure there are no uninvolved civilians in proximity to the target, in a way that they would surely be hit.

We don’t know what is behind walls or under the ceilings. For that we have to rely totally on intelligence sources or the headquarters which assigned us to the mission.

Q: When you’re on a mission, do you have time to admire the landscape or just let your thoughts run?

A: It depends. In the attack on the Osiraq nuclear reactor in Baghdad, there was a long route and it took us about two hours to get there. Part of the way was over a desert which was unoccupied and there was time to look around and see the landscape. But when you’re actually at war, you know Israel – you take off, you blink and you’re over the border, so there’s no time to look around.

Q: How concerned are pilots about falling into captivity?

A: The pilots have a well-known defense mechanism that “it won’t happen to me.” The second mechanism is that pilots know Israel will do all in its power to get them back if they fall into captivity.

Q: Does the army prepare you for this situation?

A: Yes, during the academy flying school, we undergo a session preparing us for captivity. Although you know it’s a simulation, you feel as though you’re there.

Q: What’s the most difficult element of being a fighter pilot?

A: In a long war, the problem is that you take off from your home base, where you’re in a safe environment and after half an hour you’re in hell, and you feel everyone is firing at you. If everything is okay, you go back to safety and an hour later you’re back in there. The changes between what you feel is very difficult, psychologically.

Also, there is a lot of stress not to blow your mission. Sometimes we are much more afraid of doing something wrong than of being shot down.

Q: Israelis perceive pilots as the cr ème de la cr ème of Israeli society. Do you think this perception is justified?

A: No. We are selected toward a certain profile needed for a fighter pilot, but I don’t that makes us superior to others among our friends in different military or civilian occupations.

Q: How does it make you feel to see fighter pilots going into Lebanon?

A: There’s an itch in my hands. I want to go back and fly.