The Nazi Officer Who Infiltrated Israel and Served in the IDF

In 1952, Lt. Gabriel Zisman successfully completed an officers' course in the Israel Defense Forces. Five years earlier, in 1947, he had joined the Haganah while being held in a detention camp in Cyprus after arriving in the Land of Israel aboard an illegal immigrant ship. During that time, he also took part in an escape attempt organized by Haganah members.

After arriving in Israel, Zisman volunteered at Kibbutz Kiryat Anavim near Jerusalem. The native born Israelis were amused by his Hebrew, which carried a strong German accent, and often joked that he sounded like a military commander. Encouraged by their comments, he enrolled in a military training course.

He excelled. After successfully completing a squad commanders' course and later an officers' course, Zisman became a lieutenant in the IDF Artillery Corps.

No one suspected the shocking secret he was hiding.

A Suspicious Photograph

After finishing his mandatory military service, Zisman applied to remain in the army as a career officer. His request was rejected.

The reason seemed unusual. Several months earlier, while socializing with friends, he had shown them a photograph of himself wearing an SS uniform. Authorities viewed the incident as a highly inappropriate prank, and it was enough to disqualify him from a military career.

At the time, no one knew how significant that photograph truly was.

A Dangerous Turn

Zisman eventually settled in Haifa. Israel was still struggling through the difficult years of austerity. Housing was cramped, consumer goods were scarce, and daily life was challenging.

Meanwhile, newspapers were reporting on the remarkable economic recovery taking place in West Germany. Despite the devastation of World War II, the country was experiencing rapid growth and prosperity.

Zisman began longing for Germany, the country he still considered his homeland. However, there were no diplomatic relations between Israel and Germany at the time, making it difficult to return.

Frustrated and disappointed, he made a shocking decision.

He approached the Egyptian consul in Geneva and offered to spy on Israel for Egypt.

The Egyptians accepted his offer. They provided him with an Egyptian passport under the name Robert Hayat and flew him to Cairo for training and instructions. His mission was to return to Israel, rejoin the military system if possible, and gather intelligence for Egypt.

Israel Uncovers the Truth

Israeli security services soon learned of the plot.

Determined to uncover the full story, they launched a sophisticated operation. An Israeli intelligence operative named Shmuel Moriah assumed the identity of an Iraqi officer named Adnan and arranged a meeting with Zisman.

During their conversations, Adnan offered him an opportunity to spy for Iraq.

Zisman replied that he was already committed to working for Egypt.

As the two men exchanged anti-Israel rhetoric in an effort to build trust, Zisman revealed an even darker secret.

He confessed that he was not Jewish at all.

According to his own account, he was a German who had served in the Waffen SS, the elite military arm of the Nazi regime that participated in some of the worst atrocities of the Holocaust.

After the war, he had learned that Israel provided assistance and support for Jewish immigrants. He studied Hebrew, created a false identity, and immigrated to Israel while pretending to be Jewish.

For years, nobody discovered the truth.

The Shocking Arrest

Adnan, who was actually Israeli agent Shmuel Moriah, assured Zisman that he could arrange an ideal espionage position for him.

He then placed him on a plane to Israel carrying an Israeli passport under the name David Weisberg.

The moment he landed, Israeli authorities arrested him.

During interrogation, he confessed to the astonishing story in full: a former SS officer had infiltrated Israel, posed as a Jew, joined the IDF, and risen to the rank of lieutenant.

The revelation stunned investigators.

An Unexpected Ending

Despite the gravity of his past, bringing him to justice proved difficult.

Israeli authorities could not prosecute him for crimes committed during his Nazi service because they lacked witnesses and sufficient evidence linking him to specific wartime atrocities.

Instead, he was prosecuted for his false identity and his intention to spy for Egypt.

The sentence many viewed as disappointingly light amounted to five years in prison.

After serving his sentence, he was deported to Germany.

According to accounts that later circulated, the final chapter of his life took an unexpected turn. It is said that he eventually became religiously observant and developed strong support for Israel.

Gabriel Zisman died in 2013, leaving behind one of the most astonishing and controversial stories in Israel's early history: the tale of a former Nazi who managed to infiltrate the Jewish state and even serve as an officer in the IDF.