Charley Shalom Attali (; sometimes misspelled as Charles Chalom Attali; 1930–2006) was an Algerian-born French-Israeli aerospace engineer.

Early life and education

Attali was born in

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

, Algeria to a Jewish family. Upon graduating high school at age 16 after skipping a grade, he was sent to study at

École nationale de l'aviation civile École nationale de l'aviation civile (; "National School of Civil Aviation"; abbr. ENAC) is one of 205 colleges (as of September 2018) accredited to award engineering degrees in Education in France, France. ENAC is designated as a grande école ...

in France, where he excelled and graduated as an engineer.

Early career

After completing his studies in 1952, Attali was initially employed at

Sud Aviation Sud Aviation (, 'Southern Aviation') was a French state-owned aircraft manufacturer, originating in the merger of Sud-Est ( SNCASE, or ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du sud-est'') and Sud-Ouest ( SNCASO or ''Société nat ...

, before eventually working for SEREB on developing

ballistic missiles A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typica ...

. While at SEREB, Attali was appointed by French president

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

to lead the

Diamant The Diamant rocket (French for "diamond") was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the United States or USSR. As such, it has been referred to as being a key ...

project. Due to the success of Diamant, Attali was awarded the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1965 by Charles de Gaulle. After the Diamant project, Attali was placed in charge of France's role in the Europa-1 rocket. Charley Attali 1965

Move to Israel

In 1969

Moshe Arens Moshe Arens (; 27 December 1925 – 7 January 2019) was an Israeli aeronautical engineer, researcher, diplomat, and Likud politician. A member of the Knesset between 1973 and 1992 and again from 1999 until 2003, he served as Minister of Defense ...

, who served as vice-president of the IAI, secretly flew to Paris to meet with Attali. Due to France's weapons embargo on Israel, Israel was planning to develop their own fighter jets. Arens asked Attali to move to Israel and help in the development of the

IAI Kfir The Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir (, "Lion Cub") is an Israeli all-weather multirole combat aircraft based on the French Dassault Mirage 5, with Israeli avionics and an Israeli-built version of the General Electric J79 turbojet engine. Develop ...

. Attali agreed, and made

Aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

shortly after with his wife and two children. While at the IAI, Attali had a key role in the development of many aircraft including the

, IAI Arye, and

IAI Lavi The IAI Lavi (, "lion") is a single-engined fourth-generation jet fighter, fourth-generation multirole jet fighter developed in Israel, by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), during the 1980s. The decision to develop the Lavi was controversial, bot ...

. For leading the

IAI Scout The IAI Scout (known in Israel under its Hebrew name זהבן - " Oriole") is a reconnaissance unmanned air vehicle developed in Israel in the 1970s by Israel Aircraft Industries as a competitor to the Tadiran Mastiff. The project was led by ...

, Attali received the

Israel Defense Prize The Israel Defense Prize (Hebrew: פרס בטחון ישראל), also known as the Israel Defense Award is an award presented annually by the President of Israel to people and organizations who made significant contributions to the defense of the ...

in 1981. He continued working at the IAI until his retirement in 1995. Israel prize

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Attali, Charley 1930 births 2006 deaths Israeli engineers People from Constantine, Algeria École nationale de l'aviation civile alumni Legion of Honour Israel Defense Prize recipients Algerian emigrants to Israel