El Al is the national airline of [[Israel]]. It played a role in various covert operations and financial transactions detailed by [[Ari Ben-Menashe]]. In January 1979, El Al was one of the last airlines to operate flights into [[Tehran]] before the airport closed, facilitating the departure of 48 [[Israel|Israeli]] aircrews who flew out F-14 jets from [[Iran]].[^1] In April 1980, El Al was involved in the transport of tires sold to [[Iran]], with a payment of $14,000 made to El Al for freight and insurance. The tires were flown from [[Israel]] to [[Vienna]] via El Al, then transferred to [[Iran Air]] by [[Israel|Israeli]] embassy personnel.[^1] In October 1980, El Al was used to transport [[Israel|Israeli]] personnel from [[Tel Aviv]] to [[Orly Airport]] in [[Paris]] for a top-secret meeting concerning the hostage release and arms deals. Later, electronic equipment acquired through a New York operation was usually flown by the [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]]'s weekly Boeing 707 flight from [[New York]] to [[Tel Aviv]], or by El Al cargo, before being transferred to [[Tehran]] via Argentinean charters.[^1] In 1986, El Al was the target of a "black" propaganda operation orchestrated by [[Rafi Eitan]] to discredit [[Syria]]. [[Nezar Hindawi]] was tasked with planting explosives on an El Al plane, with the intention of causing a public incident. The plot was foiled by [[Israel|Israeli]] security. Hindawi's girlfriend, Ann-Marie Murphy, was unwittingly used in the plot, and an [[Israel|Israeli]] security man, disguised as a cleaner, passed her the parcel containing the explosives in the [[Heathrow Airport|El Al]] departure lounge.[^1] In 1988, El Al's first-class lounge at [[Heathrow Airport]] was the meeting place for [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] and [[David Ivry]], director general of [[Israel|Israel]]'s Ministry of Defense, to discuss the sale of C-130s to [[Iran]].[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992. (Hereafter, "Profits of War")