By Tom Tugend
LOS ANGELES — Louis (Lou) Lenart, an American fighter pilot hailed as “The Man who saved Tel Aviv” during the opening days of Israel’s War of Independence, died Monday (July 20) at his home in Raanana, Israel.
He was 94 and died of heart and kidney failures. His funeral on Wednesday (July 22) at the Kefar Nachman Cemetery in Raanana will be attended by high-ranking officers of the U.S. Marine Corps and Israeli Air Force, according to Lenart’s wife, Rachel Nir.
Lenart was born Layos Lenovitz, the son of Jewish farmers, in a small Hungarian village near the Czech border.
To escape the prevalent anti-Semitism the family moved to the United States when Lou was 10. His parents settled in the Pennsylvania coal-mining town of Wilkes-Barre, where the kid with the funny accent again was the target of anti-Jewish taunts.
At 17, Lenart enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and after 18 months of infantry training talked his way into a flight school, then was almost give up for dead after a midair collision during training.
Ultimately, he saw action in the Battle for Okinawa and other Pacific engagements. Discharged at war’s end with the rank of captain, Lenart learned that 14 relatives in Hungary had been killed in Auschwitz.
It took little additional incentive for the ex-Marne to join the clandestine effort to smuggle war surplus planes into the nascent State of Israel in early 1948.
When Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948, the Israeli Air Force consisted of four bastardized Czech versions of the German Messerschmitt.
On May 29, large Egyptian forces had advanced to within 16 miles of Tel Aviv and Israel decided to gamble its entire air force in an attack on the Egyptian advance columns.
As the most experienced pilot, Lenart led the attack, backed by Ezer Weizman, later president of Israel, as one of the other three pilots.
The stunned Egyptian troops, who had been assured that the Israelis had no aircraft, stopped their advance and retreated. Subsequent news reports hailed Lenart as “The Man who saved Tel Aviv” — and thus Israel.
After the war, Lenart participated in the airlift of Iraqi Jews to Israel, flew for El Al Airlines and produced six feature films, including “Iron Eagle” and “Iron Eagle II”.
One of his collaborators was Hollywood screenwriter Dan Gordon, who emphasized that the headline was no exaggeration. “In many ways, Lou was what Lafayette and Nathan Hale were to the American Revolution,” Gordon said. “If it hadn’t been for Lou and his three comrades, Tel Avivians would be speaking Arabic today.”
Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador the United States and now a Knesset member, stood in awe of Lenart’s accomplishments. Oren described his friend some years ago as “a loving father, loyal friend, champion of Israel, Lou Lenart is an inspiration not only for Jews, but for all people who have suffered oppression and have had to struggle for their liberty and defense.”
Lenart is survived by his wife, daughter Michal Lenart and a grandson.
20th July, 2015