Yosef Lishansky

Yosef Lishansky (; 1890 – 16 December 1917) was a Jewish spy for the British in Ottoman Palestine. Upon making Aliyah, Lishansky sought to join HaShomer but, denied membership, he founded a rival organization, HaMagen. Several years later, he joined the Jewish espionage organization, Nili.

Lishansky was wanted by the Ottomans for his activities and was betrayed by HaShomer when he sought refuge with them. He escaped capture several times, but was eventually caught and sentenced to death in Damascus.

Life Early life Yosef Lishansky was born to Edel (Adina) and Yaakov Tuvia in a town in the Kyiv Governorate in the southwest of the Russian Empire (Ukraine). When he was still young, his mother and almost all his siblings perished in a fire. Yosef immigrated with his father to Land of Israel, probably in 1896. After the Six-Day War, Shlomo Ben Elkana discovered the location of Feinberg's grave and investigated the elderly Bedouins in the area. They testified that he was murdered, completely disproving the suspicion against Lishansky. Thorough research indicates that Lishansky likely met Sarah Aharonson only once, briefly, before the journey to Egypt, ruling out any romantic connection between them.

In February, after fully recovering from his wounds, Lishansky returned to Atlit aboard the British ship "Mengan".

From that time he became the coordinator of Nili's activities in the country, alongside Sarah Aharonson. His experience managing HaMagen and his deep familiarity with the country helped him maintain continuous contact with the operatives. Sometimes he stayed in Atlit, Nili's "base," and at other times, he traveled around the country between the various agents, collecting reports. He copied the reports received from the agents in his handwriting and sent them to Egypt using the British connection ship. He also managed and supervised the transfer of funds from Egypt. He was captured again by Arabs from whom he tried to steal a camel and was handed over to the Turks.

In the trial held for him in the prison Lishansky was sentenced to death by hanging. He sought to escape from his cell through bribery, but Meir Dizengoff refused to transfer the necessary money, despite having received large sums from Nili and despite Lishansky's refusal to testify saving him from punishment.

Lishansky and Naaman Belkind spent their final days in depression. On one occasion, Lishansky asked Dr. Moshe Naiman, a fellow Nili member imprisoned with him, for poison to take his own life. But Naiman did not fulfill his request.

At three in the morning on 16 December 1917, Yosef Lishansky and Naaman Belkind were taken from their cells to the central square in Damascus, to the gallows. Eitan Belkind recounted:

At the central square, Lishansky delivered an anti-Ottoman speech in Arabic to the Arab audience. Dibsheh Erlich, an eyewitness, reported his words:

When his speech was translated into Turkish, the executioner understood its tone and ordered the translation to cease. Belkind and Lishansky spoke and recited the Viddui (confession) before their death with the envoy of the Hakham Bashi of Damascus, Hakham Nataniel HaCohen Trab Masalton, who was a Hebrew teacher at the city’s "Alliance" school.