A former
Royal Air Force pilot and
gentile named
Gordon Levett, who served in
World War II, volunteered for the Israel
Machal (the overseas volunteer unit) early in 1948 along with a few Jewish pilots (among others the future president
Ezer Weizman) from Britain. Brought up in poverty in Sussex, England, Levett had an affinity for the underdog. "Looking back, I have neither failed nor succeeded, the fate of most of us," Levett reflected later, "but I shall leave the world a better place than when I entered it because I helped found the State of Israel." Initially, Levett was regarded with deep suspicion. "Not only was he not a Jew, but Mr. Levett was particularly notable because he was British," said The New York Times. "To most Israelis at that time, the recently lapsed
British mandate in Palestine had been decidedly pro-Arab, and British Government policy was seen as anti-Zionist." "Recruited in March 1948 by emissaries in Europe of the
Haganah, the Jewish fighting force in Palestine, Mr. Levett was viewed with a healthy dose of suspicion," noted the Times. "'In my last interview I was told, 'We're quite convinced that you are a British spy, but we're going to take you to see what you're up to,'" he recalled. == Operation details ==