The Story of How Israel Trusted its Survival to the Nazi Me 109

Several American pilots, fearing another Holocaust, signed up to join the fight, even though the U.S. government had threatened to revoke their citizenship if they did. These first pilots included Lou Lenart, Leon Frankel, Harold Livingston, Milton Rubenfeld (the father of Pee-wee Herman), George Lichter, Gideon Lichtman, and the Canadian Ace of Aces George “Buzz” Beurling. They were joined by Ezer Weizman, Eddie Cohen, and Modi Alon, the only three pilots of the Israeli Air Force at the time.

Several American pilots, fearing another Holocaust, signed up to join the fight, even though the U.S. government had threatened to revoke their citizenship if they did. These first pilots included Lou Lenart, Leon Frankel, Harold Livingston, Milton Rubenfeld (the father of Pee-wee Herman), George Lichter, Gideon Lichtman, and the Canadian Ace of Aces George “Buzz” Beurling. They were joined by Ezer Weizman, Eddie Cohen, and Modi Alon, the only three pilots of the Israeli Air Force at the time.

On May 29, 1948, the Israeli Air Force flew its first combat mission with four 199s flown by Modi Alon, Ezer Weizman, Lou Lenart, and Eddie Cohen. The small group attacked an Egyptian armored column that was threatening Tel Aviv.

Although the damage they did to the Egyptians was minimal, the psychological effect it had was profound. The Egyptian commander radioed to Cairo that he was holding his position. The Egyptians would never get any closer to Tel Aviv than they did on that day. The Israelis only lost Cohen; no one was sure if because of ground fire or a mechanical failure.

The next day Rubenfeld was shot down and forced to parachute into the ocean. He tried to swim to shore for hours before finally realizing the water was shallow enough for him to walk to shore. Israeli citizens, thinking he was an Arab, began shooting at him. Rubenfeld didn’t speak Hebrew and knew very little Yiddish, so he began blurting out the only words he knew… “Shabbos, gefilte fish!”