Gideon Shochat

Gideon Shochat
גדעון "גדע" שוחט‎
A delegation of four officers sent by David Ben Gurion to collect funds in the United States in 1956. From left to right: Ezer Weizmann, Yossi Harel, Nachman Karni, and Gideon Shohat.
BornDecember 26, 1912
Haifa, Ottoman Empire
DiedDecember 19, 1966 (aged 53)
Herzliya, Israel
ChildrenAlona Einstein

Gideon (Geda) Shochat (Hebrew: גדעון (גדע) שוחט‎; 1912–1966) was a Royal Air Force pilot, colonel in the Israeli Air Force, and a former Israeli ambassador to Malawi.[1] Shochat's daughter Alona was married to Israeli singer Arik Einstein.

Early life

Geda Schochat was born in Ottoman Haifa in 1912[1] to Zionist activists and politicians Manya and Israel Shochat.

World War II

In 1941, Shochat volunteered for the RAF and was sent to Asmara and Eritrea to work as a machinist, and after a few months, returned to Mandatory Palestine. In 1943, he finished pilot training in Rhodesia[2] and served as a pilot in Egypt. Near the end of World War II, he served in Karachi as a commander for a squadron of B-24 Liberators.[3]

Israeli War of Independence

Shochat joined the Israeli 103 Squadron in 1948. He was involved in Operation Velvetta to smuggle aircraft to Israel from Czechoslovakia for the Israeli War of Independence.[4]

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Shochat, Gideon ("Geda")". Honor Israel's Fallen. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  2. ^ Feingenbaum, Ruth. "A Time for Song and Dance" (PDF). Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation Centenial Magazine.
  3. ^ Weizman, Ezer (1975). לך שמים, לך ארץ. Israel: הוצאת ספרית מעריב. p. 40.
  4. ^ Abarbanell, Oded (23 November 2014). "Operation Velveta 1 — Part 1". Oded Abarbanell. Retrieved 2 January 2025.