“It was not their country, but they made it their war” This DVD documentary features events of 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, of how a group of Jewish-American pilots answered a call for help. In secret and at great personal risk, they smuggled planes out of the U.S., trained behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia, and flew for Israel in its War of Independence. As members of Machal─volunteers from an abroad─this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war; they also embarked on personal journeys of discovery and renewed Jewish pride. 

This is an educational and must-see movie about Israel becoming a state. The country was formed after the British decided to leave the region The Jewish community needed a place to call their own and to defend it. With an untrained army and small in numbers, they had very little chance of beating back the surrounding Arab armies. After the United States refused to be involved, the Jewish community began buying old planes from any country willing to sell them. It turned out that those old planes gave the Israeli military an upper hand to win their war and earn their land. 

An American pilot writes after viewing the documentary: “This is the best account of that dramatic effort that I have encountered, including footage never seen before. The Mahal pilots helped to give birth to the modern Israeli Air Force. These pilots deserve to be remembered and honored.” The film producer is Steven Spielberg’s sister, Nancy Spielberg. (Photo gallery included. Length 85 minutes, not rated.)