‘West Wing’ director to helm epic tale of American who built Israel’s Air Force
The significance of Schwimmer’s contribution wasn’t lost on Israel’s founding father, David Ben-Gurion, who declared him ‘America’s greatest gift to Israel.’
Before Israel had an air force, it had Al Schwimmer – an American engineer who orchestrated one of the most daring covert operations in modern history, with help from an unlikely crew including Frank Sinatra and Meyer Lansky.
Warner Bros. has tapped Aaron Sorkin to bring this extraordinary tale to the big screen. Behind the controls of military aircraft during World War II, Al Schwimmer cut his teeth as a flight engineer for TWA and the U.S. Air Transport Command.
But it was his early experience as an aerospace engineer at Lockheed that would lay the groundwork for an operation that seems scripted for the silver screen.
In 1948, while Jews were battling to establish their homeland, Schwimmer assembled a remarkable team of World War II veterans for a mission that would reshape Middle Eastern history.
Schwimmer’s unlikely allies included notorious mobster Meyer Lansky, entertainment icon Frank Sinatra, and even Pee-wee Herman’s father, forming what might be the most eclectic covert team ever assembled.
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Together, they orchestrated the smuggling of 125 military aircraft and over 50,000 weapons to British-Mandated Palestine in a direct challenge to an American embargo at the time.
The significance of Schwimmer’s contribution wasn’t lost on Israel’s founding father, David Ben-Gurion, who declared him “America’s greatest gift to Israel.”
His actions laid the groundwork for what would become one of the world’s most formidable air forces.
Sorkin’s adaptation draws from David Kushner’s Business Insider article “America’s Greatest Gift to Israel,” with Gotham Group’s Eric Robinson and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein producing.
For Sorkin, who won an Oscar for “The Social Network” and earned critical acclaim for “The West Wing,” Schwimmer’s story continues his tradition of bringing pivotal historical moments to life on screen.
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