A rivalry heats up between a pair of Israeli fighter pilots during the lead-up to the 1967 Six-Day War in Air War (Krav Avir, קרב אוויר).

In short, this is the Israeli version of Top Gun and it was produced on a budget of $8 million NIS. This is the equivalent to $2.23 million dollars so don’t expect the kind of visual effects that you might see in a Tom Cruise blockbuster. In any event, it is none the less thrilling when it comes to the action taking place in the air. This isn’t to say anything of the drama and romance on the ground. The romance might be something of a subplot but it still factors into the overall narrative. The film does not have much in terms of comedy but it features just about everything else. All the while, a war is about to heat up, resulting in Israel gaining territory. It’s not an understatement to say that Israel is still dealing with the repercussions from the Six-Day War but that’s another story altogether.

After Avi Shaked (Yonatan Uziel) is killed during a routine mission over the Golan Heights, Squadron 181 is in search of a new commander. Prior to his death, he informed Deputy Commander Lr. Eitan Ram (Daniel Litman) that he didn’t think he was ready to command a squadron. Lt. Ran Nesher–who recently broke the rules while shooting down six Egyptian migs–soon receives the assignment to command Squadron 181. Never mind the fact that Eitan thought he was ready, he’s none too pleased with taking orders from the new kid on the block. Eitan is methodical and disciplined in his work while Ran is clearly inexperienced and arrogant. Suffice it to say, it is a clear recipe for disaster at a time when the squadron cannot afford to be playing any games. The competition between them even extends to duking it out in the air for control.

It’s bad enough that they lost time with the death of their fallen commander. But now, the back and forth is really showing in their training. For their squadron to be successful, it is essential for Ran and Eitan are to work together. This is especially true with Nasser building up Egypt’s forces in the Sinai. Ran’s higher ups inform him that they are working on Operation Focus and that squadrons will need to be ready. The main objective of Operation Focus: destroy all Arab airfields and aircraft in Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. This preemptive air strike would give Israel supremacy in the air during the Six-Day War. It would ultimately become one of the greatest victories in modern warfare. Anyway, the announcement of the operation means having to start training immediately. After weeks of not being ready, Squadron 181 was back in action!

But almost as soon as they get back into action, things go awry with Ran and Eitan being forced to eject during a recon mission. They get to know each other while waiting on a rescue. Well, when they’re not fighting or hiding from Egyptian forces. Seeing each other eye to eye is a contributing factor to playing their part in Operation Focus. The Israeli Air Force sends up 197 plans in the air with three squadrons remaining on the ground. There are close calls but every single plane comes home safely. Two trios would further assist ground forces in the Sinai. All in all, they did their job in destroying 70% of the Arab air forces, around 451 planes. By the end of the war, both Jordan and Syria would lose their remaining aircraft.

Perhaps most surprisingly, it is Ran who encourages Eitan into expressing his feelings for deputy operations officer Galia (Gily Itskovitch). On the other end of the coin is Nili (Lihi Kornowski). Nili had been trying to get her papers signed for a discharge but ends up reporting for duty during Operation Focus. Much of the women in the film deal worked on the operations side of things, doing much of the planning.

As far as the actors go, both Maor Schwietzer and Daniel Litman deliver standout performances. Meanwhile, Gily Itskovitch’s character is up against the sexism that existed during the 1960s so this has an impact on the material that she’s working from in the script. If any of them manage to break into Hollywood, I’ll be sure to tune into their work.

I’ve seen a number of Israeli films in recent years. While a good amount end up with Israeli Ophir Award nominations, this one did not. However, it’s still a very good film, seeing as how I was on the edge of my seat. I’ve seen Above and Beyond, a documentary about the foreign air men volunteering for the War of Independence. It was the birth of the Israeli Air Force. But despite that, I have seen zero narrative features about the Israeli Air Force until now. You’d think there would have been more films about the IAF! It does surprise me that it took several years to get the film into production–premiering in Israel in 2024, the film had taken at least 15 years.

Led by a pair of standout performances, Air War is a patriotic film and a celebration of heroes. There’s a universe where the film didn’t arrive amid the sadness and grief affecting the State of Israel. But as it did, it’s very timely in that it gives audiences heroes to root for on the big screen.

DIRECTOR: Roy Hornshtein
SCREENWRITERS: Roy Hornshtein, Yoav Katz
CAST: Maor Schwietzer, Daniel Litman, Gily Itskovitch, Lihi Kornowski, Amir Shurush, Yonatan Uziel, Galy Reshef, Gal Amitai

Air War (Krav Avir, קרב אוויר) holds its international premiere during the 2025 Miami Jewish Film Festival. Grade: 5/5

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