---
aliases:
- Yoav Shacham
category: Other
summary: Yoav Shacham was an Israeli grain trader and alleged spy who significantly
  influenced Uri Geller's early life and aspirations.
tags:
- Person
---

Yoav Shacham was an [Israeli](/places/israel/) grain trader and alleged spy who significantly influenced [Uri Geller](/people/uri-geller/)'s early life and aspirations. Shacham was a resident at the hotel in Nicosia, [Cyprus](/places/cyprus/), run by Geller's stepfather, Ladislas Gero[^1].

Shacham, described as tough-looking and powerfully built, practiced martial arts in the hotel garden, which intrigued a fourteen-year-old Geller. Geller, seeking to impress Shacham, demonstrated his ability to bend metal spoons and keys. Shacham, impressed, offered to teach Geller martial arts[^1].

Geller confided in Shacham, claiming he could read his mind and knew he was an Israeli spy. Shacham, whose cover was compromised, presented Geller with a challenge: to join the Israeli Army as a paratrooper, work hard, become the best soldier, attend officer training school, and then find him. Shacham promised that only then would he get Geller into the [Mossad](/organizations/mossad/) (Israel's intelligence agency). This undertaking gave Geller a sense of purpose[^1].

Geller diligently followed Shacham's instructions, joining the Israeli army in 1965 and entering officer training school. However, his dream was shattered in November 1966 when a national newspaper reported that Major Yoav Shacham had been killed in action during a skirmish in a Jordanian border town[^1]. Geller's opportunity to do secret government work for Mossad seemingly died with his friend, though he would later have connections to Israeli intelligence[^1].

[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.