Avshalom was born 1925 in Elfoka village, Yemen. His father owned a metal workshop for agricultural tools, and his mother raised their six children. In childhood he studied at a cheder. To assist in his father’s business, he studied Arabic, excelling at it. Aged 17 he ran away with a cheder friend trying to make aliya. On their third attempt, 1942, they succeeded in reaching Eretz-Yisrael aboard a ship from Aden, after receiving a certificate.
During 1942-47 he served in the Hebrew Settlement Police at kibbutz Ayelet-Hashachar and served with a Palmach cell smuggling immigrants into the country from Syria and Lebanon. In 1947 he joined Lehi. He was in charge of several fighters in the Rishon-Lezion, Nes Ziona and Rehovot areas. He served in Lehi Intelligence with a forged Arab ID . He submerged in the Arab population, held conversations. His appearance and Arabic expertise fortified making important contact, retrieving information. He took part in sabotaging a train carrying weapons and British soldiers in the Rehovot area, and in the Barclays Bank Tel-Aviv heist undertaken to appropriate funds for arms purchasing. He drove and guarded in the Convoy to Jerusalem, participated in surveillance and recruited fighters for the underground.
After establishment of the State he joined the IDF with his Lehi comrades, and served in the 82nd Battalion of the 8th Brigade, participating in all its battles. He was wounded and badly burned in the battle over Be’ersheba, hospitalized for a year. In 1949 he married Re’uma Maliach; they had six children, fifteen grandchildren. In 1957 he joined the ‘Semadar’ actors ensemble, adopted by the ‘Ohel’ Theater. He instructed youth for a living, and administered an open Public Complaints dept. in the Municipality of Tel-Aviv. He was among the founders/donors of the synagogue memorializing Eli Cohen.
He undertook documentation of Yemenite Jewry’s heritage. His hobbies were Kabbalah, reading holy scriptures, poetry, theater and travel. Avshalom passed away on September 16,1988.