[3][4][1] Schwimmer also recruited pilots and crew, mostly World War II veterans, to fly circuitous routes to land the planes in Israel.

[5] Using the planes, the Israeli Air Force would bombard a residential neighborhood near Qasr al-Qubba in Cairo on July 15, 1948, during the international phase of the 1948 Palestine war.

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

[1] Sam Lewis, a former codefendant, worked for him as a pilot and consultant and helped set up several airlines in Europe, Asia, and South America.

[11] In the mid-1980s, Schwimmer was a special adviser for technology and industry for Israel's then-Prime Minister Shimon Peres, who became a close friend.

[1] In 2015, his exploits during 1948 Arab–Israeli War were depicted in the PBS documentary A Wing and a Prayer, written, directed, and produced by Boaz Dvir.