A Wing and a Prayer (film)

The film predominantly covers the story of American pilot Al Schwimmer and his covert operation to deliver weapons to the Israeli Army prior to and during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

He used his World War II experience and contacts to illegally smuggle surplus rifles, machine guns, bullets and fighter planes to Israel.

They arrived in Israel just as British rule ended, and Schwimmer returned to the United States to buy and smuggle out B-17 bombers.

Schwimmer refused to ask for a pardon, believing that smuggling weapons to help create a Jewish State was the moral decision to make.

[5] The interviewees were located predominantly in the United States and Israel, and Dvir made sure that each story was corroborated on by two independent sources for the sake of accuracy.

"It would’ve meant the death of tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of people; the destruction of the only entity on Earth willing to take in Holocaust survivors; and the stamping out of the Jews’ 2,000-year aspiration to return to their ancient homeland.

"[7] He put in seven years researching and producing the film (working on Jessie's Dad and Discovering Gloria simultaneously) on a modest budget of $135,000, half of which came out of pocket.

[19] In March 2020, Penn State University's Holocaust Education Initiative, founded and run by Dvir, released free instructional materials for K-12 teachers.

[20][21] On Nov. 8, 2020, Dvir presented “A Wing and a Prayer” in New York and New Zealand, hosted by the Sousa Mendes Foundation and B'nai B'rith, respectively.