His last military flight was in the 1956 Sinai War, after which he became a pilot for Israel’s national airline El Al.[2] On September 6, 1970, Bar-Lev was the pilot of El Al Flight 219 from Tel Aviv to New York via Amsterdam.
Once the hijackers, Patrick Argüello and Leila Khaled, threatened the crew and passengers, Bar-Lev took control of the flight and threw the plane into a dive.
[4] This lowered the plane’s altitude making any explosion or damage less dangerous and knocked the hijackers to the ground.
[8] Bar-Lev and the crew were celebrated by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in December 1970.
[2] Bar-Lev was instrumental in cancelling a 2020 San Francisco State University event with Leila Khaled, one of the 1970 hijackers, arguing that it crossed a line between free speech and inciting terrorism.