Isaac Shoshan

Isaac Shoshan was born in 1924 in Aleppo

Shoshan was born Isaac Shasho, known as Zaki, in Aleppo, Syria, to Yaqoub and Mazal Shasho. He studied at an Alliance school, helped his father, who was a school janitor, and was active in the Jewish Scouts.

In 1942 he crossed illegally into Mandatory Palestine. He worked in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, then joined training groups at Kibbutz Na'an and Kibbutz Gvat, and in 1945 he joined the Palmach.

In the Palmach Arab Section he trained as an undercover operative posing as a Muslim Arab and took part in covert operations. In 1948 he reached Beirut with refugees and helped build a spy network there under the name Abdul Karim Muhammad Sidki.

After returning in 1950 he served in Military Intelligence, helped found Unit 269, later Sayeret Matkal, and trained agents including Eli Cohen. In 1966 he moved to the Mossad, where he led a unit that helped Jews leave enemy countries and started Operation Melet for Syrian Jews.

He retired from the Mossad in 1982 but kept teaching as a volunteer. He published books in 1990 and 2016, lived in Bat Yam and died in 2020.