In 1948| a group of World War II pilots volunteered to fight for Israel in the War of Independence. As members of 'Machal' -- volunteers from abroad -- this ragtagband of brothers not only turned the tide of the war| preventing the possible annihilation of Israel at the very moment of its birth; they also laid the groundworkfor the Israeli Air Force. ABOVE AND BEYOND is their story. The first major feature-length documentary about the foreign airmen in the War of Independence| ABOVE ANDBEYOND brings together new interviews with pilots from the '48 War| as well as leading scholars and statesmen| including Shimon Peres| to present an extraordinary|little-known tale with reverberations up to the present day.