General David Goldfein
General David GoldfeinUSAF

Of all the Jews in the world, the one who controls the greatest firepower is not necessarily Binyamin Netanyahu or the current commander of Israel's Air Force. It appears the distinction is held by the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, General David Goldfein.

Goldfein is the second Jew to hold the high position, and the first to have been a fighter pilot previously.

The first Jew to hold the high post was General Norton Schwartz, who commanded the force between 2008-2012. Schwartz was a helicopter and transport aircraft pilot.

The United States media has been quoting Goldfein for the past 24 hours because US heavy bombers armed with nuclear warheads are preparing for a 24-hour alert on the backdrop of tensions with North Korea. This means that all 76 B52 planes will be ready to take off at any moment for bomb missions.

Before his appointment as Air Force Chief of Staff, Goldfein served as assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Goldfein was commissioned as an officer in 1983 and since then has held various senior command positions in the US Air Force on US soil and in Europe, and took part in the 1991 Gulf War.During the war in Bosnia he served as commander of the 555th Fighter Squadron, and led his unit as an F-16 pilot.His plane was shot down by an anti-aircraft battery on May 2, 1999 over western Serbia, but it was rescued by a NATO helicopter before enemy troops managed to locate it.

Goldfein has the rank of Command Pilot, the highest ranking in the US Air Force, awarded to those who have accumulated at least 15 years of flight experience with 3,000 hours of flying.