Informative Essay On Avraham Hershkovitz

Avraham Hershkovitz

Subject ID: 5,692

Executive Summary

Avraham Hershkovitz is a Far Right Jewish extremist, former Israeli soldier, and member of the Jewish Defense League. There is little direct evidence pertaining to his radicalization, but he appears to have quickly involved himself with the Jewish Defense League. Authorities arrested Hershkovitz on September 27, 1970 at Kennedy International Airport. He and his wife attempted to smuggle four guns and hand grenades that they wished to use in a hijacking a flight and diverting it to Israel. In April 1970, authorities sentenced Hershkovitz and his wife to five years in prison for passport violations. Hershkovitz later pleaded guilty to the 1970 bombing of the Soviet trade mission headquarters

in downtown Manhattan. On May 15, 1972, only two years into his prison term, US authorities granted Hershkovitz parole and deported him to Israel. Within a year, Israeli security forces arrested Hershkovitz for attempting to smuggle weapons and ammunition out of Israel. Little is known about Hershkovitz’s early life or his current activities and whereabouts.
Childhood (0-10)
Hershkovitz was born in the Auschwitz concentration camp. According to author Richard Rosenthal, his father died at Auschwitz.
Adolescence (10-17)
No information was available for this life stage.

Young Adulthood (17-25)

Avraham Hershkovitz served in the Israeli Army until shortly before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, when he immigrated to the United States. Through Hershkovitz’s military service and his prior residence in Israel, he gained Israeli citizenship.

Adulthood (25-45)

Throughout his adult life, Hershkovitz was an active Jewish extremist. Hershkovitz attempted multiple times to smuggle weapons through airport security and was arrested twice, once in the United States and once in Israel, on violating weapons control charges. In both arrests, the weapons being smuggled were to be used in revenge operations against Arab targets. While in prison in the United States, Hershkovitz admitted to participating in the bombing of a Soviet Trade Mission in New York. After serving two years of a five year prison sentence, authorities in the United States granted Hershkovitz parole and deported him to Israel, where he would be arrested again for smuggling weapons.

In 1970, federal authorities described Hershkovitz as an unemployed clerk who was involved with the Jewish Defense League (JDL). The JDL is a right wing militant group formed in the United States by Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1968. The mission of JDL is to protect Jews by any means they deem

necessary.
On the night of September 27, 1970, authorities arrested Hershkovitz, and his wife of six months, Nancy Joan, at Kennedy International Airport. An airline security guard spotted bulges on the pair as they prepared to board a British Overseas Airways jet for London. A search produced four guns and a hand grenade strapped to their bodies. U.S. authorities charged Hershkovitz and Joan with conspiracy to violate gun controls and with making false statements in applying for a passport. Hershkovitz and his wife carried false documents that listed the pair as Gordon J. Ryder of Los Angeles and Nancy Jane McGovern of New York. According to the US Attorney’s office, Hershkovitz admitted that he and his wife planned to transfer in London to an Arab airline, then hijack that plane in retaliation for the jets blown up by Palestinian guerrillas. Authorities sentenced Hershkovitz and his wife to five years in prison. His wife Joan jumped the $5,000 bail, fled to Israel, where she reportedly gave birth to their first child. In June 1971, Hershkovitz won his trial on the conspiracy to violate gun control charges, leaving only the five-year passport fraud charge.
In November 1971, authorities granted Hershkovitz parole. Authorities set May 15, 1972, as Hershkovitz’ release date from the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. In January 1972, before he was released, Hershkovitz made a guilty plea for the April 22, 1971 bombing of the Soviet trade mission in New York. The bombing on the 19th floor of the Amtorg offices in Manhattan did considerable property damage but caused no injuries. Hershkovitz’ role in the bombing remains unclear. Judge Mark Constantine accepted Hershkovitz’ plea of guilty but noted that the JDL member was already serving a prison term. The judge suspended the bombing charge. Six other defendants were scheduled to stand trial in January 1972. In September 1972, three members of JDL plead guilty to the bombing. Following his release, U.S. officials deported Hershkovitz to Israel. Avraham Hershkovitz returned to his wife in Israel who had given birth to their first child.
In August 1972 and in response to the Munich Massacre of eleven Israeli Olympians, JDL leader Meir Kahane, Avraham Hershkovitz and Joseph Schneider, decided to launch an attack against the Libyan Embassy in Rome. The plan was to meet up with eleven other JDL operatives due to arrive in Rome from the United States. The group intended to take over the embassy, and demand all those who collaborated with the Palestinian terrorists involved in Munich be transported to Israel to stand trial. The operatives intended to execute occupants of the embassy at timed intervals until their demands were met.
On September 20, 1972, Israeli security forces arrested Hershkovitz as he attempted to smuggle arms and ammunition out of Israel for the planned Italian Embassy attack. A police spokesman stated that Hershkovitz attempted to leave the country with two sub-machineguns, two pistols, three hand grenades, and a quantity of ammunition. Yosef Schneider, a JDL operative in Jerusalem, admitted that the arms would have been used for attacks on Arab diplomatic missions in the U.S. and Europe. No information was available to substantiate details surrounding Hershkovitz’s arrest in Israel in 1972. Whether or not he served time in prison is unclear. No information was available on Hershkovitz’s life over the next ten years.
By 1982, Hershkovitz resided in the small Israeli settlement of Yamit in the northeast of Sinai Peninsula with his wife and seven children, ages four months to ten years. Israeli forces began to forcibly evacuate the settlement in April 1982. Protestors, however, plagued the withdrawal. Both nonviolent groups and militant Israelis attempted to resist the evacuation process. Among the dissidents were followers of Kahane who threatened to blow themselves up if Israeli forces attempted to remove them. Kahane flew to Israel from the United States to negotiate with the protesters. A New York Times article quoted Hershkovitz in its coverage of the withdrawal. “This area will not be empty of Jews,” Hershkovitz said. “People just keep coming back and back and back.”
Late Adulthood (45- )
No information was available on Hershkovitz’s life after 1982. He is assumed to be living in Israel with his family.