I was extraordinarily privileged to  know Al Schwimmer, a former transport pilot in World War II,, who helped create Israel’s air force in the 1948 War of Independence, and then was chosen to build the nation’s military might at Israel Aircraft Industries, a government-owned enterprise responsible for the defense of Israel and the export of weapons ever since.

Schwimmer, who died in Israel this weekend at the age of 95, had  a life of bold adventure as one of the most important American Jews to play a major role in the 63 year saga  history of Israel.  He was a close ally of Israeli leaders such as David Ben Gurion, Golda Meier,  Shimon Peres, Moshe Dayan and many other leaders.  He was a throwback to the early patriotic Zionist leaders who devoted their lives to securing the Jewish nation.

In 1948,  Schwimmer and his friend Hank Greenspun(later a Las Vegas newspaper publisher)  stole into a  military surplus base stacked with weapons and ammunition from World War II– and through a daring series of events, arranged for this stolen material to reach Israel. Schwimmer also heard about Messerschmidt fighter planes left in Czechoslovakia,  acquired them, took them apart and shipped the planes to Israel where they became the core of the Israel Air Force. Otherwise, it would not have existed.

Schwimmer was  tried by the Justice Department for violating the Neutrality Act, which prohibited weapons being sent to Israel. He was found guilty,but the judge refused to sentence him to jail. He was finally pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2000, 52 years later.

In 1950 Schwimmer was managing a small airport outside Los Angeles when  a car drew up and out stepped David Ben Gurion,  the first Prime MInister of Israel. Ben Gurion  convinced Schwimmer to come to Israel to start Israel Aircraft Industries, which became the major arms manufacturer for the young nation’s defense. He ran IAI for 20 years and claimed that it was making $1 billion when he left.

He engineered a major coup for Israel when France refused to sell its Mirage fighter jets to Israel in the 1960s. Al went to Switzerland and was able to convince a  Swiss engineer to  part with  the plans for the Mirage in return for an unknown amount of cash.. Israel manufactured its own version of the Mirage, which was essential for victory over the Arab air might in the 1967 Six Day War.  Schwimmer was persona non grata in Switzerland for many years thereafter.

In the 1980s,  still a consultant to the Israeli government Schwimmer played a  key role in the Iran-Contra arms deals , chartering aircraft privately to fly Israel’s HAWK missiles to Iran, which resulted in Iranian payments which were used in part to financially back the right-wing Contras in Nicaragua’s civil war. The US replaced those HAWK missiles for Israel.

He goes down in history as one of the greatest leaders of the Israel state along with  other true Zionists like Stef Wertheimer,  whose company made jet engine blades and  created the most important manufacturing company in Israel– Iscar– now 80% owned by Berkshire Hathaway. In fact, Schwimmer gave Wertheimer one of his early contracts that enabled him to get a foothold in business.