Who they are
Nimrod Sheffer is a fighter pilot who rose to major general, finished his army career as head of the IDF Planning Directorate and then ran Israel Aerospace Industries. He was born in 1961 and raised in Kibbutz Alonim, the son of Holocaust survivors. He completed flight course 96 in 1981 and qualified as a fighter pilot, flying first with Squadron 201 and then with Squadron 110. He was deputy commander of the First Fighter Squadron when it took delivery of Israel’s first F-16s. He took a degree in geophysics and planetary sciences at Tel Aviv University and a master’s in public administration at Harvard on a Wexner Foundation programme.
Between squadron commands he headed the combat branch of the air force operations department, responsible for the operational planning of its fighter aircraft, and from 1999, as a colonel, the operations department itself. He later headed the planning division of the General Staff’s Planning Directorate and took over the Air Division in 2008. He was among the candidates to command the air force in 2012, a post that went to Amir Eshel.
He joined Israel Aerospace Industries at the start of 2018 as deputy chief executive for strategy and research before taking the top job. In April 2025 he said he had been dismissed from reserve duty over his signature on the pilots’ letter, and the following month he joined the Democrats under Yair Golan.
Positions and record
Security: In May 2026 Sheffer backed a rapid agreement with Syria, considering withdrawal of Israeli military posts there, and opposed an IDF security zone in southern Lebanon.
Education: Sheffer supports equal funding and independence for state schools and liberal, democratic education throughout the system. He opposes a separate secular stream.
Service: Sheffer wants Haredim integrated into ordinary military units, opposes separate units by religious identity and would limit military rabbis to religious services outside command and education.
Transport: Sheffer supports Shabbat public transport where municipalities choose it and opening leisure venues, with workers choosing their weekly rest day.
Equality: Sheffer supports full equal rights for all citizens and freedom of and from religion.
Where they stand
Holds the party line on every issue.