Americans in the Israeli Air Force

[CoyoteChris]

Here is a stiring seven minute documentry about American Fighter pilots of Jewish faith Joining what would become the Israeli Airforce
in 1948 and turning back Egypt six miles from Televiv...flying Nazi planes...
http://vimeo.com/54400569

[iluvtodd]

Thank you very much (or, I should say "Todah Rabah"), Chris. This is incredibly moving, and I will be sharing this with family, friends, and synagogue congregrants. We have several children of congregants who have moved to Israel over last summer to join the Israel Defense Forces, including the oldest son of our cantor (the musical leader of our services). Thank goodness for these young (at the time) pilots who saw the urgency of the situation and were instrumental in defending the state of Israel.

[Olympia]

That's amazing, Chris. Thanks.

[Buttercup]

That must have been an incredible experience for the pilots who were involved - I didn't expect that so many would still be alive today, it's great that they managed to find them so that they could share their stories. I do wish they had interviewed some of the Israelis who were involved in the IAF in its early days (there were some ) so that we could hear their thoughts about the foreign pilots and their contributions.

The way the Israeli military was kind of put together using anyone and anything that could help is the sort of typical Israeli improvisation that can still be seen in the country today (e.g. in the high-tech sector).

[CoyoteChris]

I do hope they get to do a full documentary. As we all know, these heros, both US and Israeli, are getting old and leaving us...I think Stephen Spielberg could do a great movie about 1948.....and beyond. When you look at the history of the country and the IDF, it is amazing....kind of reminds me of the birth of the US in some ways....it warms my heart to see what a few good people can do when they get together and "Just say NO" to tyrants and hold up their hand in a STOP gesture while holding an Uzi in the other....well done, Israel.

That must have been an incredible experience for the pilots who were involved - I didn't expect that so many would still be alive today, it's great that they managed to find them so that they could share their stories. I do wish they had interviewed some of the Israelis who were involved in the IAF in its early days (there were some ) so that we could hear their thoughts about the foreign pilots and their contributions.

The way the Israeli military was kind of put together using anyone and anything that could help is the sort of typical Israeli improvisation that can still be seen in the country today (e.g. in the high-tech sector).

[Olympia]

Chris, what a great idea, for someone like Spielberg to make a movie about it.

A good storyteller (Spielberg is surely one) has to be in charge. I saw George Lucas's Red Tails, about the Tuskegee Airmen, and it missed a lot of chances.

Maybe Ron Howard, if Spielberg's busy.

[louisa05]

Thanks for sharing this, Chris. I once did a research project (way back in my undergrad days) on the birth of modern Israel and read about these pilots. Very cool to hear their stories directly.

[Buttercup]

it warms my heart to see what a few good people can do when they get together and "Just say NO" to tyrants and hold up their hand in a STOP gesture while holding an Uzi in the other....well done, Israel.

I'd rather there was no need for anyone to do that, and I don't think what happened in Israel in 1948 was about people saying no to tyranny. I do see your general point, however. Many people made considerable sacrifices in order for Israel to become a nation and to defend the country and help it succeed since then, and some of them did so entirely voluntarily, like the men in this documentary. That's certainly worthy of respect.

FWIW, Uzis were not introduced into the IDF until the 1950s, and most IDF soldiers do not use Uzis of any type these days.

I would rather not see a Hollywoodized version of Israel's founding. I like the documentary approach, as was done here - also, the Israel Broadcast Authority produced two major documentary series about the history of the country, Pillar of Fire and Tkuma (part 1 of the English version is on Youtube), and there are of course others. The one thing that might work is if it was something more like Band of Brothers, a miniseries and one that does sensationalize or turn to melodrama.