Gideon Shochat
Gideon "Geda" 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. | |
| Born | December 26, 1912 |
| Died | December 19, 1966 (aged 53) |
| Children | Alona 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
[edit]Geda Shochat was born in Ottoman Haifa in 1912[1] to Zionist activists and politicians Manya and Israel Shochat. He grew up in Kfar Giladi, a kibbutz founded in part by his parents, and was educated at the Mikveh Israel boarding school near Tel Aviv.[2]
World War II
[edit]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[3] 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.[4]
Israeli War of Independence
[edit]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.[5]
Later Life
[edit]In 1964, Shochat was appointed as the Israeli ambassador to Malawi.[6] Shochat died in 1966 and was given a military funeral at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery.[1]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c "Shochat, Gideon ("Geda")". Honor Israel's Fallen. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ Neaman, Samuel (2002). Eretz Israel from Inside and Out (PDF). Tel Aviv: Miśrad ha-Biṭaḥon. p. 34. ISBN 9650511407. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
- ^ Feingenbaum, Ruth. "A Time for Song and Dance" (PDF). Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation Centenial Magazine.
- ^ Weizman, Ezer (1975). לך שמים, לך ארץ. Israel: הוצאת ספרית מעריב. p. 40.
- ^ Abarbanell, Oded (23 November 2014). "Operation Velveta 1 — Part 1". Oded Abarbanell. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ "גדעון שוחט שגריר במלאווי". www.nli.org.il (in Hebrew). דבר. 16 July 1964. Retrieved 22 January 2025.