Gideon Shochat
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 Schochat was born in Ottoman Haifa in 1912[1] to Zionist activists and politicians Manya and Israel Shochat.
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[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.
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.[3]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b "Shochat, Gideon ("Geda")". Honor Israel's Fallen. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ Feingenbaum, Ruth. "A Time for Song and Dance" (PDF). Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation Centenial Magazine.
- ^ Abarbanell, Oded (23 November 2014). "Operation Velveta 1 — Part 1". Oded Abarbanell. Retrieved 2 January 2025.