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Eliahu Sacharoff

Eliahu Sacharoff was an Israeli industrialist and Haganah member who worked on arms procurement and the military industry before and during the War of Independence.

1914 to 2018Haganah arms procurementHelping build the military industryOperation Balak fighter flightsSmuggling B-17 bombers

Died: 30 October 2018
Occupation: industrialist

Eliahu Sacharoff was born in 1914 in Jerusalem

Eliahu Sacharoff was born in Jerusalem in 1914, a third generation in the land. His father, Yitzhak-Mordechai Sacharoff, was a timber merchant, and his mother was Rivka Ben-Tovim. His grandfather, Rabbi Yehezkel Sacharoff, came from White Russia in 1902.

As a high school student in the early 1930s he joined the Haganah's communications unit. He later served as an aide to Shaul Avigor and Eliahu Golomb. In 1938 he was assigned to help organize the military industry with engineer Haim Slavin, while also buying arms and raw materials.

In 1940 he was arrested for his part in the struggle against the White Paper and held in prison for 6 months. In 1942 he led, with Yehuda Arazi, the transfer of weapons from British army stores in Egypt to the Haganah. On 8 October 1943 a British military court sentenced him to 7 years in prison for possessing ammunition, and he was pardoned after 4 years.

After his release he organized the clearing of arms shipments at Haifa port. On 15 May 1948 David Ben-Gurion and Israel Galili sent him to Czechoslovakia to arrange the flight of Avia S-199 fighter planes to Israel. He then smuggled 3 B-17 bombers from the United States and organized a shipment of arms from Mexico.

In 2007 he lit a torch at the national Independence Day ceremony. He died on 30 October 2018.

Milestones in Eliahu Sacharoff's life

1914
Born in Jerusalem.
1932
Appointed commander of a signals course.
1938
Assigned to help organize the military industry.
1940
Arrested for activity against the White Paper.
1942
Led the weapons transfer from British stores in Egypt.
1943
Sentenced by a British military court to 7 years in prison.
1948
Sent to Czechoslovakia to arrange the flight of fighter planes.
2007
Lit a torch at the Independence Day ceremony.
2018
Died.

Eliahu Sacharoff served in the military

He joined the Haganah's communications unit in the early 1930s and later worked in its arms procurement. In 1948 he organized the flight of fighter planes from Czechoslovakia and the smuggling of B-17 bombers.