Following the 1948 U.S. arms embargo on Israel leading up to the Israeli War of Independence, Harry Levine and 18 other American Jews accepted David Ben-Gurion’s plea and began a secret and extremely complicated operation to smuggle weapons overseas to the Haganah. This operation was possibly the most organized global joint effort the Jewish people had ever made.
Big Ideas
- Jews are responsible for helping other Jews.
- When it comes to fighting for survival, Jews need to rely on themselves rather than others.
- Fighting between Jews often does more damage than good.
Essential Questions
- How far would you go to help the Jewish people?
- Is defiance against the government ever justifiable?
- If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, then when?