Adolph William Schwimmer (; 10 June 1917 – 10 June 2011) was an American and later Israeli engineer and businessman. He was the founder and first CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries.
Early life
In 1917, Schwimmer was born in New York City, the son of immigrants from Eastern Europe. Schwimmer never used his given birth name of Adolph, preferring the nickname "Al".
Career
In 1939, Schwimmer began his aerospace career at Lockheed Corporation as an engineer and also received his civilian pilot license. During World War II, he worked for TWA and assisted the U.S. Air Transport Command as a flight engineer.
During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Schwimmer used his World War II experience and his contacts to smuggle surplus war planes to Israel. Schwimmer reflected on what motivated these actions in an interview with Boaz Dvir. The alternative was described as a "Second Holocaust [...] they believed that those 600,000 Jews were going to die." Using circuitous routes, he also recruited the pilots and crews to fly the planes to Israel. Many of these men became the nucleus of the Israeli Air Force.
In 1949, Schwimmer returned to the United States and, in 1950, he was convicted in the United States of violating the US Neutrality Acts for smuggling the planes into Israel. Schwimmer was stripped of his voting rights and veteran benefits and fined $10,000, but did not receive a prison sentence. Schwimmer refused to ask for a pardon, believing that smuggling weapons to help create Israel was the right moral decision to make. In 2001, President Bill Clinton gave Schwimmer a presidential pardon.
In the early 1950s, Schwimmer, who was running an aircraft maintenance company in Burbank, California, was approached by David Ben-Gurion, Israel's then prime minister, who asked Schwimmer to return to Israel and establish an aircraft company for commercial and military purposes. Schwimmer acceded to Ben Gurion's request and founded Israel Aerospace Industries, of which he became the first CEO.
Schwimmer was one of the founders of Savyon, but later moved to Tel Aviv.
In the mid-1980s, Schwimmer was a special adviser for technology and industry for Israel's then-Prime Minister Shimon Peres, who became a close friend.
Personal life
Schwimmer was married and had two children, Danny and Dafna, as well as four grandchildren, Orr, Ella, Sarah, and Avi. On June 10, 2011, Schwimmer died on his 94th birthday in a hospital in Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv District, Israel.
In popular culture
In 2015, his exploits during 1948 Arab–Israeli War were depicted in the PBS documentary A Wing and a Prayer, written, directed, and produced by Boaz Dvir. The film contains the only public interview Schwimmer gave in light of these events.
Awards
In 1975, he was awarded the Herzl Prize for his contribution to Israel's security and economy. In 2006, Schwimmer was awarded the Israel Prize, for his lifetime achievement and special contribution to society and the State. In 2018, Schwimmer was posthumously honored by the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C., as one of the 70 most valuable American contributors to the strengthening of Israel and its alliance with the United States.
See also
List of Israel Prize recipients
List of people pardoned by Bill Clinton
References
External links
. . Al Schwimmer at LATimes.com Al Schwimmer at Forbes.com Clinton pardons listed at justice.gov
1917 births
2011 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesspeople
Aircraft designers
American aerospace businesspeople
American aerospace designers
American aerospace engineers
American aviation businesspeople
American consulting businesspeople
American emigrants to Israel
20th-century American Jews
American manufacturing businesspeople
Businesspeople from New York (state) Israeli aerospace engineers Israeli Air Force personnel Israeli chief executives Israeli Jews Israel Prize for special contribution to society and the State recipients Jewish engineers Lockheed people People from Ramat Gan Recipients of American presidential pardons Trans World Airlines people 21st-century American Jews