Josef Aviram’s office sits about 10 feet beneath the streets of Jerusalem, in the basement office of the Israel Exploration Society (ies). As inconspicuous as it is for a man of his reputation and accomplishment, this humble abode is a fitting workplace for a man who has devoted the bulk of his 95 years to promoting archeology in Israel. For a man whose life’s work has revolved around digging Israel’s soils to discover the magnificent history that lies beneath, this burrow is familiar and comfortable—a place he calls home.

On Tuesday Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry met Josef Aviram at his office in Jerusalem. The meeting was arranged after a June 22 telephone conversation with Mr. Aviram, a call that began: “Hello Mr. Aviram, I’m from the Armstrong Int ….” The sprightly Mr. Aviram immediately interrupted: “Armstrong, you mean Herbert Armstrong? Where is his work? What happened to it?”

It was clear: This man respected and loved Herbert Armstrong.

We needed to talk with Mr. Aviram more, in person—and soon!

On Tuesday, Josef Aviram, still the president of the ies, recalled some of his history with Mr. Armstrong, and Mr. Armstrong’s history in Israel. The relationship began in October 1968, Aviram explained, when Herbert Armstrong flew to Israel to meet with Dr. Benjamin Mazar from Hebrew University and investigate his archeological excavations on the Temple Mount, adjacent to the Western Wall.

Josef Aviram was secretary of the ies at the time and a good friend of Benjamin Mazar. Mr. Armstrong joined both men on a tour of the newly commissioned excavation. Prior to the visit, Mr. Armstrong was hesitant and not overly enthusiastic about participating in an archeological dig. But as he walked the Temple Mount and listened to Dr. Mazar, he later recalled, he realized that Mazar’s dig “was much more impressive than I had expected.”

After the tour, a meeting was arranged between Mr. Armstrong and high-ranking officials of both Hebrew University and Israel’s government. Among those in attendance were Dr. Benjamin Mazar, Gen. Yigael Yadin and Israeli Minister of Tourism Moshe Kol. Also present at the special luncheon was Josef Aviram, who together with Benjamin Mazar pioneered Jerusalem’s archeology after the Six-Day War.

As the meeting came to a close, Mr. Kol, grabbed Mr. Armstrong’s hand and shook it and told Mr. Armstrong that they must “form an iron bridge,” never to be broken, between Ambassador College and Hebrew University/Israel Exploration Society. The trip went exceptionally well, recalled Mr. Armstrong later: “The favor we were given in their eyes—the warmth of their attitude toward us—was inspiring, astonishing, and most unusual.”

Still, Mr. Armstrong didn’t want to rush such a large and significant decision. So he departed Jerusalem, promising to return December 1 with his official decision.

Meanwhile, Mazar and Aviram accepted Mr. Armstrong’s invitation to visit Ambassador College and jetted to Pasadena, California. They determined to learn more about the college and Herbert Armstrong, recalled Mr. Aviram, their potential partners in the most important archeological dig in Israel. The visit was a success. They left impressed and with high hopes of a long-term partnership, Mr. Aviram explained. Over the years, Mr. Aviram visited Ambassador College five times and enjoyed attending concerts, talking with students and dining with Mr. Armstrong in his home.

During that first visit, Mr. Aviram and Mr. Mazar leveled with Mr. Armstrong, asking him outright: “Why would you be interested in supporting archeological excavations in Jerusalem?” Mr. Armstrong flashed his Star of David cufflinks and responded, “Because I’m related to your King David!”

As the bond between Herbert Armstrong and Dr. Mazar grew, others took notice of the momentous excavations taking place on the Temple Mount. As a gesture of faith in Mr. Armstrong, the archeologists turned down three other major American universities seeking involvement in the Temple Mount project. Instead, Ambassador College was offered a 50/50 joint participation in Israel’s newest and most prestigious archeological excavation.

With the relationship growing, Mr. Armstrong returned to Jerusalem. He had good news, but he didn’t want to spill the beans too early. Before his official announcement of support for the Temple Mount excavations, Aviram recalled, Mr. Armstrong told Benjamin Mazar that he first wanted to meet Zalman Shazar, Israel’s president. Strings were pulled, calls were made, and the meeting was arranged.

On Dec. 1, 1968, a convoy of executive cars rolled into the driveway of the president’s palace in Jerusalem. Zalman Shazar became the first head of state to meet with Mr. Armstrong. Once again, Mr. Aviram was a spectator to a historic moment. Toward the end of the meeting, he recalled, Mr. Armstrong rose and asked for a few moments to deliver a few words. “He concluded by requesting we all stand, after which he wrote a $100,000 check and handed it to President Shazar. At the meeting, he also pledged $100,000 and 50 Ambassador students per year till the project was complete,” Mr. Aviram remembers.

Mr. Armstrong was then asked if he wanted to put the relationship in a formal legal contract. “My word is good,” he replied, “and I believe yours is too, without any legal entanglement.” This was one of Mr. Armstrong’s greatest qualities, Mr. Aviram stated this week. “He was a man of his word,” he always stuck to his promises, he said. The meeting impressed Mr. Armstrong too. He later wrote about the meeting with his “friends in Israel,” as he so affectionately called them, stating, “The meeting was memorable—perhaps historic.”

It truly was, because on Dec. 1, 1968, the first beam of the “iron bridge” linking Herbert Armstrong and his friends in Israel was laid.

Over the next 10 years, the iron bridge between Pasadena, California, and the city of Jerusalem bustled with activity. Each summer, scores of young, energetic AC students would pack their bags and fly to Jerusalem to volunteer on the massive excavation on the southern wall of the Temple Mount. During that span, Mr. Armstrong visited the dig many times and was often seen walking arm-in-arm around the site with his close friend Dr. Mazar. Together with Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek, Mr. Aviram told us this week, Benjamin Mazar was Mr. Armstrong’s best friend in Israel. The men were brothers in arms, and shared many similar traits. Both were straight-talking and uncompromising. Both were interested in taking the Bible and objectively proving the truth, rather than trying to fit it in with preconceived beliefs.

Like Mr. Armstrong in his occupation, Dr. Mazar regularly consulted the Bible in his work too. Whenever he visited an archeological site, Mr. Aviram recalled, Mazar would pry his Bible from his pocket and consult it for advice and direction.

When the Temple Mount excavations concluded in 1976, Mr. Armstrong made sure the iron bridge between Pasadena and Jerusalem remained strong. From 1980 through the summer of 1985, he dispatched Ambassador students to support excavations led by Dr. Yigael Shiloh in the City of David. Like Mazar, Dr. Shiloh embraced the Ambassadors, and stated that he would use Ambassador students exclusively if he could.

“We built the bridge,” Mr. Armstrong wrote in November 1980, and “it’s still standing, [and] we’re still traveling back and forth on it.”

When Mr. Armstrong died in January 1986, Josef Aviram and Benjamin Mazar dispatched a touching condolence to Pasadena. In their note they recalled Herbert Armstrong’s outstanding and touching legacy in Israel. “During the years of our association with him all of us developed the highest regard for his wonderful personality and qualities. His deep devotion to the ideals of peace and justice in the spirit of the biblical prophets was appreciated by his friends in Israel. His feeling for Israel and for Jerusalem was manifested in his true interest in the archeological excavations near the Temple Mount and in the City of David. His name will always be attached to this most important undertaking carried out in Jerusalem.”

Twenty-five years later, Herbert Armstrong’s name remains attached to the Temple Mount and City of David excavations. Beyond that, Mr. Armstrong’s fingerprints remain all over Jerusalem, and his name still reverberates with many, including the venerable Josef Aviram.

Most importantly, the divinely inspired and led life and work of Herbert Armstrong in Jerusalem is today being perpetuated by Gerald Flurry and the Philadelphia Church of God.