Gavriel, son of Moshe and Julie, was born on 3 December 1919 in Chernivtsi, Romania. At age fifteen, he joined Beitar. He finished high school in his hometown.

On 16 January 1939, he went out with Beitar comrades to the port of Constanța. They joined eight hundred more members of the movement, from Czechoslovakia, aboard the ship Katina, as part of the Af al Pi program of Jabotinsky’s movement. After three months, on 21 April 1939, they made it to shores of the Land of Israel without being captured. The same day, Gabriel joined the Beitar company in Mazkeret Batya. (He had previously served in the recruitment company.)

In October 1939, he was recruited into the IZL and underwent firearms training. After the IZL split (1940), he moved on to Lehi. He left the company and moved to Rishon LeZion. In 1941, he married Rivka (Reva), who was also a Beitar member.

In October 1941, six months after the wedding, he was arrested on suspicion of Lehi membership. He was interrogated in Rishon LeZion and Rehovot police stations, then in Jaffa and Jerusalem prisons. After a month of interrogation, he was sent to Mizra detention camp; some time later, he and the rest of the detainees were transferred to Latrun.

Gabriel was included in the first group of 251 detainees deported to Africa on 19 October 1944. He was held in Sembel (near Asmara, Eritrea), Carthago (Sudan), back in Eritrea, and finally in Gilgil (Kenya). After the State was established, he was returned to Israel with the last group, on 12 July 1948. He had been in detention for nearly seven years in Israel and abroad.

When he returned, as the War of Independence was raging, he joined the IDF, fighting to liberate the Galilee. He was discharged at the rank of sergeant. In 1949, he joined the Israel Police. He ended up commanding two police stations, in Rishon LeZion and Rehovot, where he had once been interrogated. Gabriel received the Medal of Distinguished Service. After thirty years of service, he retired with the rank of chief superintended.

Gabriel and Rivka have three children: Beracha, Moshe and Yael.