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 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
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
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
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
- ^ 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.