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In 1973, Abie Nathan launched "Kol HaShalom", the Voice of Peace radio station, which broadcast from a ship in the Mediterranean Sea.He ceremoniously sank the boat in 1993 following the launch of the Oslo peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
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JERUSALEM (AFP)---Outspoken Israeli peace activist Abie Nathan, who created in 1973 the Voice of Peace radio station, died on Wednesday aged 81.
"Abie Nathan died several hours ago in hospital. He was hospitalised several days ago in a very bad condition," Aviv Shemer of the Ichilov Medical Centre in Tel Aviv told AFP.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert praised Nathan's legacy.
"Abie Nathan loved life, loved mankind and loved peace. He painted Israeli society with special colours of humanity and compassion. We will cherish his memory with love," Olmert's office quoted him as saying.
President Shimon Peres, who shared the Nobel peace prize with the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 1994, said Nathan was one of the "most special people in Israel."
"He was a warrior for people's hearts and the greatest believer in times of little hope," he said in a statement.
Born in 1927 to a Jewish family in Iran, Nathan served as a British air force fighter pilot during World War II before emigrating to Israel shortly after its independence in 1948.
In 1966, Nathan defiantly flew a single-engined plane called "Shalom One" from Israel to Egypt -- Israel's main enemy at the time -- in what was branded a "peace flight."
After being arrested by Egyptian authorities and returned to Israel, Nathan attempted a second flight in 1967, was again stopped by the Egyptian authorities and later jailed in Israel.
The indefatigable campaigner continued his high-profile activities to promote peace, including the creation in 1973 of the Voice of Peace radio station which broadcast from a ship in the Mediterranean Sea.
He ceremoniously sank the boat in 1993 following the launch of the Oslo peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
