Over time, he earned a reputation as a maverick peace activist who often took diplomacy into his own hands. He was called a crackpot and a prophet.
But many admired the daring of the former Israeli air force fighter pilot as he pounded on Egypt's doors, sailed his pirate radio ship into hostile Middle East waters, or risked his life on hunger strikes for peace.
Yossi Sarid, a dovish lawmaker, said Mr. Nathan paved the way for Israel's peace movement. "He was ahead of his time, and he did everything himself," Sarid said.
On hearing of Mr. Nathan's death, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel issued a statement that said: "Abie Nathan loved life, loved mankind, and loved peace. He painted Israeli society with a unique shade of humanism and compassion."
Abraham Jacob Nathan was born April 29, 1927, in Iran, was educated in India, and served in the Royal Air Force as a fighter pilot, before joining the Jewish immigrant influx into newborn Israel in 1948.
He flew for Israel's national airline and ran an art gallery and restaurant that became the center of Tel Aviv's bohemian life. His American-style diner even helped pioneer the hamburger in Israel.
Convinced that people power could succeed where diplomats had failed, he ran for Parliament in 1965 on a promise to fly his private plane to Cairo and talk peace with Egypt's president, Gamal Abdel Nasser.
"Someone has to do something," he said. "We are getting nowhere with the politicians.
The voters rejected him, but he flew his private plane, Shalom One, to Port Said anyway. Egyptian authorities treated him courteously and sent him home. The Israeli government disapproved of his unauthorized border crossing but took no action.
He continued his campaign for peace later that year with trips to Europe, the United States, and the Soviet Union, where he met with world leaders such as Pope Paul VI and Senator Robert Kennedy, and intellectuals like Jean-Paul Sartre and Bertrand Russell.
In 1967, he flew to Egypt again and was turned away without seeing Nasser. The Israelis jailed him for 40 days.
