Tuesday, September 1, 2026

The Lavi Fighter Jet did not die

 The Chinese J-10 has been sold to several Muslim countries. The J-10 bears a strong resemblance to Israel’s Lavi fighter jet, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) following an audacious decision by Moshe Ahrens. The Lavi never entered production because the government considered it too ambitious for tiny Israel. The design was based on the Kfir Israeli fighter.

It was never published that China bought the Lavi's designs to accelerate the development of a domestically produced fourth-generation fighter jet. The funds China paid covered the project's costs in Israel. Instead of the Lavi, Israel bought American fighters. 

I read in Hebrew Moshe Ahrens's book Flags over the Warsaw Ghetto, on the neglected role of the right-wing (Jabotinsky-inspired) youth movements in the revolt. The Labor governments of Israel glorified Mordechai Anilevich and the role of the socialist movements while cancelling the heroism of their political rivals. Ahrens writes that it was impossible to start the revolt while people hoped to survive the war; only near the very end did they understand that the ghetto was to be liquidated and there was no more chance of survival. 


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