Sometime in late 1947 or early 1948, Robert Maxwell, father of Ghislaine Maxwell, covertly smuggles aircraft parts into Israel, giving them a leg up in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the 1947-1949 War of Independence.
Israel’s sudden air superiority plays a major role in Czechoslovakia’s decision to provide them with weapons, jets, and other military aid in Operation Balak. Officials later say that the war might have been impossible without Czechoslovakia’s help — and therefore, Robert Maxwell’s help.
Without the arms from Czechoslovakia… it is very doubtful whether we would have been able to conduct the war.
Yitzhak Rabin, Former Prime Minister of Israel
It is possible that without Maxwell, Israel would not exist today.
Background
Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch) joined the Czechoslovak Army on May 13, 1940, and was transferred to the British Army three years later after protesting against Czech military leadership. By 1946, he was serving in the press department in the Berlin headquarters of the UK’s Foreign Office.
At some point in the ’40s, Maxwell became friendly with the Land of Israel, Czechoslovak communist leaders, and very likely Soviet Russia. Maxwell’s friends at the Foreign Office begin investigating him around 1949. The agency eventually concludes that he’s most likely financed by the Russian government.
Russia publicly announced its support for the partition of Palestine and the creation of Israel in May 1947, but Stalin was quietly supporting Israel’s efforts as early as 1944. He believed that the new country would improve his efforts to diminish Britain’s influence in the Middle East.
By the time of his death, Robert Maxwell is known to have worked for he Czechoslovak Army, the British Army, the British Foreign Office, and the Semion Mogilevich Organization; he’s also believed to have worked for the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Israel’s Mossad, and likely the KGB.
After his death, he is buried in Israel. Six Israeli intelligence leaders and Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir attend his funeral. Shamir eulogizes Maxwell and compares him to a hero. Maxwell, Shamir says, “has done more for Israel than can today be told.”
External Sources
The Secret War Against the Jews by John Loftus and Mark Aarons
1948 Arab-Israeli War, Archived
Maxwell’s Czech military join date, Archived
Telegraph – F.O. Investigations, Archived
Israel-Russia Relations, Archived
Photo: Unknown
