Avshalom Feinberg (Hebrew: אבשלום פיינברג, 23 October 1889 – 20 January 1917) was one of the leaders of Nili, a Jewish spy network in Palestine that helped the British fight the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

He was killed during a mission for the organization while attempting to cross the Ottoman-British front line with Yosef Lishansky, aiming to reconnect with British forces in the Sinai Peninsula for intelligence exchange between them and NILI.

After completing his studies there, Feinberg continued his education at the school run by the Alliance Israélite Universelle organization in Jaffa.

[1] During that time, his father, Israel Feinberg, was involved in draining and cultivating the Hadera swamps, which were purchased by his uncle, Yehoshua Hankin.

[2] At the age of twelve, Avshalom, along with other youths, founded a society called "Carriers of the Zion Flag," aiming to establish "a free Land of Israel."

At fourteen and a half, it was decided to send Avshalom to Paris, as there was no proper high school in the Land of Israel at the time, and due to health issues.

[citation needed] Feinberg, a Jew with strong nationalist feelings, harbored a deep hatred for the Ottoman Empire, which he viewed as corrupt while ruling the Land of Israel before World War I.

To achieve our goal, I would be willing, if it were in my power, to launch two or three wars against the Turks, as well as every plague and calamity, and set them aflame as one lights a candle.

In a report he sent in October of that year to Henrietta Szold, he wrote about the tyranny of Ottoman officers: "The officer sent to the location believed, therefore, that his patriotic duty obliged him to suspect everyone, examine everything, enact laws, and behave like a real tyrant, enacting laws and prohibitions typical of Turkish foolishness...[8] My God, when I think of how much we have been enraged, angered, and fumed because of these vile tyrants, who only recently received their officer ranks, I conclude that these petty matters depressed our spirits much more than the great dangers we face when your will drives you to stand in the breach...Due to these daily troubles, our lives became unbearable, hard to bear.

"[9] At the beginning of 1915, Avshalom Feinberg, Aaron and Alexander Aaronsohn decided that they had to take practical steps to end Ottoman rule in the Land of Israel by actively aiding the British.

This scenario was something Turkish military commanders greatly feared, as Ahmed Djemal Pasha wrote in his book: "If the English and the French managed to gain support from the locals and landed two divisions at any point on the Syrian coast (Beirut or Haifa, for instance), we would be in a desperate situation."

[10] After Alexander Aaronsohn was sent to Egypt and expelled from there, it was decided to send Feinberg, in the hope that he would succeed in establishing contact with the British.

On 30 August 1915, he departed aboard the refugee ship "De Moines," with hastily forged documents, and arrived in Egypt a few days later.

He managed to establish contact with British intelligence officer Leonard Woolley, who agreed to the idea of forming a spy network.

Feinberg was instructed in signaling and coding methods and was also asked to provide specific information about the Turkish army and two British pilots whose aircraft had crashed in the Negev.

"[11]Upon returning to the Land of Israel on 8 August, he began traveling around to gather information and compiled a report detailing the state of the Ottoman army in various parts of the country, the condition of the roads, and rumors he had heard.

As I walked upon the sacred, holy land on the way up to Jerusalem, I asked myself if we are truly living in this time, in 1915—or in the days of Titus or Nebuchadnezzar II?

He received backing from Aaron Aaronsohn, who was officially appointed by the authorities to combat locusts (though he had resigned earlier), and eventually, the investigation yielded nothing, and Feinberg was released.

Lishansky escaped, but Feinberg, wounded in his thigh and unable to move, shot the Turkish gendarme in response to the demand to drop his weapon.

[17] In June 1967, forty years after Avshalom Feinberg’s disappearance, Israeli forces advancing through the Sinai encountered a local Bedouin who claimed to have information of interest.

His adventurous nature was prominent, as noted by others ("A non-conformist, rebellious type, who does not accept authority and is willing to sacrifice both himself and everyone around him" wrote Mordechai Ben Hillel HaCohen regarding his espionage activities) and by his own admission: "Know this, Rivka'le, that in two, three, ten years, I will also go to the cold, to the heat, to danger, to the unknown and adventure, and even if I love you then a thousandfold, do not try to stop me because I will push you as if rude, and pass by you.

The past is the most persuasive advocate, its plea draws out thick forests shrouded in mystery, and goatherds crowned with curls like demigods, and sunburnt maidens singing like murmuring springs, and warriors rushing like streams...""And when I descended to the plain, thousands of bells rang in my ears, echoing Brand's words to Ibsen... and their slogan is worthy: "A living people, though scattered and small, fortifies itself in its misfortune and rises through its pain; and its dimming gaze, like a fading eye, becomes the gaze of the soaring eagle, intoxicated by the blue, extending its wing mightily to rise against the burning sun, and in its revulsion towards the enemy and the oppressive dark, its weakness becomes strength, and its despair a source of hope; but a people who do not rise to the sublime in its suffering, and does not direct its heart towards a great and noble goal, will not merit salvation; it will die without hope for redemption."

""We won’t need to die… and when the day comes, the boys will turn into green crowned date palms and next to them their girls will petrify into statues of white marble…"[21] After Avshalom Feinberg disappeared in the desert sands near Rafah, numerous attempts were made to locate his body.

This sparked a public debate in Israel about the NILI spy network as a whole, ultimately leading to broader recognition for their actions.

[23] Upon the discovery and relocation of his remains to Mount Herzl, a memorial was erected at the site by the military government, where a straight tree befitting Avshalom’s character was planted.

[24] In 5729 (1969), a Nahal outpost was established in the Yamit region named "Dekel" to commemorate the palm tree marking Avshalom's grave.

[30] In 2007, marking 90 years since Avshalom's fall, two students from the Ofra Girls School, Shir Ben Haim and Merav Edri, went to his grave and were surprised to find no one there.