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Brigadier General Giora Epstein (; 20 May 1938 – 19 July 2025), later known as Giora Even (), was an Israeli Air Force (IAF) officer and a Flying ace credited with 17 victories, 16 against Egyptian jets and one against an Egyptian Mi-8 helicopter, making Epstein the ace of aces of supersonic fighter jets and of the Israeli Air Force. Epstein was an active IAF pilot from 1961 until 26 May 1997, when he retired at age 59. Like many retired IAF flyers, he later worked as a pilot for El Al Airlines.
Epstein joined the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 1956 and began training with the 4th Airborne Division, although this was disrupted by the outbreak of the Suez Crisis and he was reassigned into the IAF's Ordnance Corps. He was initially rejected from flight school because of a heart condition and later volunteered as a paratrooper in the Paratroopers Brigade's Efah Battalion. While traveling with the IDF's parachute demonstration team, Epstein changed his last name to Even ("stone" in Hebrew). He left the IDF in 1959 before returning three years later as a parachuting instructor, during which he reapplied to flight school and was accepted after gaining medical clearance.
After graduating with honors in 1963, Epstein was assigned to pilot helicopters in the 124 Squadron. Unsatisfied with this position, he appealed to IAF commander Ezer Weizman, who later personally met with him. According to Epstein, Weizman told him: "Listen, you piece of shit, I couldn't sleep all night because of you. Pack your bags and get to the fighter squadron. I don't want to hear from you again." After the exchange, he was assigned to a Mirage fighter squadron. He soon gained the nickname "Hawkeye" or "Eagle Eye" due to his extraordinary eyesight. Epstein was allegedly able to spot aircraft at a distance of 24 miles (38.4 km) — nearly three times further than a normal pilot.
The rest of his kills, 12 in total, came during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, of which Epstein played a major role in the build-up. On 6 October 1973, at 2:00p.m., Epstein activated warning sirens across Israel that signalled the start of the war after aircraft takeoffs were detected at Egyptian and Syrian air bases. Between 18 and 20 October, he downed an Egyptian Mi-8 helicopter and eight jets: two Sukhoi-7s, two Sukhoi-20s and four MiG-21s. In one dogfight, where Epstein was alone against 20 Egyptian fighter jets, he was able to shoot down four aircraft in a single sortie before retreating to base over a fuel shortage. Then, on 24 October, while leading a quartet of jets that took off from Hatzor to patrol the Suez Canal area, Epstein joined an aerial battle between a quartet led by Baharav and 22 Egyptian MiG-21s. Twelve MiGs were shot down during the dogfight, three by Epstein, while none of the ten Israeli jets (including two that joined towards the end of the battle) were lost. Eight of his victories during his career were with the French-built Mirage III, a delta wing fighter designed primarily as a high-altitude interceptor. His other nine victories came in an IAI Nesher, an Israeli-built version of the Mirage 5. Five of his kills were downed using air-to-air missiles, the rest with cannon.
His 17 victories against Egyptian aircraft rank him the top supersonic fighter jet ace in the world and Israel's most decorated combat pilot.
Epstein was the primary subject of the "Desert Aces" episode of The History Channel series Dogfights. The episode first aired on 10 August 2007.
Epstein died on 19 July 2025, at the age of 87.
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