Gideon Shochat

Gideon Shochat was born in 1912 in Haifa

Gideon Shochat, known as Geda, was born in Haifa in 1912. He was the eldest son of Zionist activists Manya and Israel Shochat. The family moved to Kfar Giladi, and he grew up in the kibbutz education system.

He studied at the Max Fein school and at Mikveh Israel. He began gliding courses in 1937 and earned a civilian pilot license in 1941 at the Lod airfield.

In 1941 he joined the British forces and worked as a machinist in Asmara. He finished pilot training in Rhodesia in 1943, flew in Egypt and later commanded a Liberator bomber in Karachi. In 1946 he helped send immigrant ships from France and Italy for the Aliyah Bet organization.

In 1948 he joined the 103 transport squadron and took part in Operation Velvetta. He headed the flight school from 1950 to 1951 and studied in the United States in 1953. In 1962 he was lent to the Foreign Ministry and served in Africa, including as ambassador to Malawi.

His daughter Alona married singer Arik Einstein. He took his own life in 1966 and was buried in a military ceremony at Kiryat Shaul.