This film FRANK SINATRA IN ISRAEL dates to 1962 and documents Frank Sinatra’s first ever visit to Israel as part of his multinational World Tour for Children. The tour, which raised over $1 million for children’s charities around the globe, had stops in Japan, Hong Kong, England, France, Italy, Greece, and Israel. In Israel, Sinatra gave seven concerts in six cities. As you will see in the course of the film, his visit coincided with the country’s annual Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day) celebrations. Sinatra sang at the official Independence Day event in Tel Aviv and was seated beside Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and General Moshe Dayan on the reviewing stand during the Israel Defense Forces parade. He also performed for troops at the Tel Nof Airbase and delivered a speech in Jerusalem “urging people all over the world to support Israel”.
The National Committee for Labor Israel presented this film, with Sinatra as the narrator, to promote Israel-American friendship and support. The film begins with Histadrut (1:00). This was a labor movement largely involving the working class; farmers, printers, doctors, educators, etc (1:06). The mayor gives our narrator a view of Tel Aviv, the largest city, from City Hall (1:49). The northern limits of the city boasted modern streets and homes (1:56). The Bloomfield Stadium was constructed with the assistance of the Histadrut campaign in Canada (2:30). Sinatra’s first benefit concert was to be performed in the municipal auditorium in Tel Aviv (2:57). These benefits were to raise money for an International Youth Center in Nazareth (3:05). It is but a short distance from Tel Aviv to Nazareth yet in culture and style there remained a large distance (6:00). On May fourth of his trip, the high point is the laying of the cornerstone for the Youth Center (7:54). Across the sea of Galilee, he heads for another benefit concert consisting of mostly farmers and fishermen (9:50). Jerusalem is a divided city with Jordan claiming the eastern half and Israel the western (9:58). A gate separates the two, for travelers to go from east to west (10:05). Another Histadrut institution is the Baal Taylor Community Center (11:25). Children from villages that could not provide then with certain classes would attend to keep pace with their city counterparts (11:38). At the center, youth are seen playing basketball as Israel teams were just beginning to enter international matches (12:08). The singer also visits a network of training institutes established by Histadrut (12:42). The government was unable to provide free secondary schools, yet Histadrut supplied thousands of scholarships annually (13:02). Sinatra speaks with youth and students about their opinions on the US (14:58). He visits the first president’s gravesite, professor Haim Weitzman (15:31). From here, Sinatra travels to the Kaplan hospital which is one of sixteen maintained by Histadrut (15:39). Visitors from newly established states and countries visit Israel to learn for their own societies (16:35). Nearing the end of his tour, Sinatra will perform a benefit concert at the Air Force Base (16:39). As he watches men and women in uniform parade in formation, we are informed this is only the fourteenth Independence day celebrated (21:32). The closing message is asking for viewers for full support for Israel in it’s campaign for establishing opportunities for youth (21:56).
Frank Sinatra was a strong supporter and activist for Jewish causes in the United States and Israel. According to Santopietro, Sinatra was a “lifelong sympathizer with Jewish causes”. Sinatra participated in Hollywood protests and productions supporting Jews during the Holocaust and the formation of the State of Israel. He actively fund-raised for Israel Bonds, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and helped establish two intercultural centers in Israel which bear his name. Due to his support of Israel, his recordings and films were banned by the Arab League and by Lebanon.
During his 1962 concert tour, in Nazareth, Sinatra purchased a lot near Mary’s Well for the establishment of an intercultural youth center for Arab and Israeli children, to be built by the Histadrut trade union. He donated the $50,000 profit from his Israeli concerts to the project. He returned to Israel in 1964 to attend the dedication of the Frank Sinatra Brotherhood and Friendship Center for Arab and Israeli Children.[9] Returning to Israel in 1965 to film a cameo role in Cast a Giant Shadow, he gave his entire $50,000 salary from the film to the center. In 1967 he made another $100,000 contribution to the Center. In 1976 a Hollywood banquet honoring Sinatra, hosted by the American Friends of Hebrew University, raised $1 million toward the construction of a student center on the university’s Mount Scopus campus. In 1978, the university named the Frank Sinatra International Student Center in his honor. On July 31, 2002, the center’s cafeteria was the site of a terrorist bombing by Hamas. Nine were killed and nearly 100 injured.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
