Mike Flanagan (Hebrew: מייק פלנגן; 15 May 1926 – 26 January 2014[1]) was an Irish soldier in the British Army who assisted the formation of the Israeli armed forces.

During this time, Flanagan and his Scottish tank commander Harry McDonald, frequented a cafe in Haifa and discussed the possibility of emigrating to one of the British dominions, as they were unsatisfied with their prospects in Britain.

They came into contact with a Haganah agent at the cafe, selling him a truckload of jerrycans they had been instructed to destroy to prevent them from falling into the hands of either side.

[6] After establishing contact with the Haganah, Flanagan and McDonald were persuaded to take part in a mission to steal tanks from the retreating British garrison for the fledgling Israel Defense Forces.

[8] Flanagan saw action in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War as a tank driver in the Armored Corps and was wounded in Operation Yoav during the attack on Iraq al-Manshiyya.

[6] Flanagan subsequently settled in Israel, converted to Judaism, adopted the Hebrew name Michael Peleg and married Ruth Levy, a fellow soldier whom he had met on active service.