Moshe Dwek ( he, משה דואק, born 1931) is an Israeli most notable for throwing a

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

in the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

while it was in session in 1957 and for a failed run for the Knesset in 1988. Moshe Dwek was born in

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

, Mandatory Syria, to a Jewish family. At the age of 13, he was part of a group of Jewish boys that

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

Mandate Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...

. He initially lived on kibbutz

Dorot Dorot ( he, דּוֹרוֹת, ''lit.'' Generations) is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located on Route 334 near Sderot, it falls under the municipal jurisdiction of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Dorot ...

, then on kibbutz

Glil Yam Glil Yam ( he, גְּלִיל יָם) is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located in the Sharon plain between Ramat HaSharon and Herzliya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaSharon Regional Council Hof HaSharon Regional Council ( he, מוע ...

. He fought in the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

. In 1950, his parents and brothers immigrated to Israel, settling in

Pardesiya Pardesiya ( he, פַּרְדֵּסִיָּה) is a town in the Central District of Israel. Located on the Sharon plain, between Kfar Yona and the Lev HaSharon Regional Council, it was founded between 1937 and 1939. In it had a population of ; it ...

. On October 29, 1957, while the

(then located in

Frumin House Froumine House (or Frumin House) ( he, בית פרומין; ''Beit Frumin''; also known as the ''Old Knesset'') was the temporary abode of the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, from 1950 to 1966. The building is at 24 King George Street in downtow ...

) was in session, Dwek, who was standing on a balcony, threw a grenade he had stolen from the army into the chamber. The grenade exploded and seriously injured

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Haim-Moshe Shapira Haim-Moshe Shapira ( he, חיים משה שפירא, 26 March 1902 – 16 July 1970) was a key Israeli politician in the early days of the state's existence. A signatory of Israel's declaration of independence, he served continuously as a minist ...

of the

National Religious Party The National Religious Party ( he, מִפְלָגָה דָּתִית לְאֻומִּית, ''Miflaga Datit Leumit'', commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Mafdal, ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist moveme ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the name ...

, Foreign Minister

Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1 ...

, and Transport Minister

Moshe Carmel Moshe Carmel ( he, משה כרמל, 17 January 1911 – 14 August 2003) was an Israeli soldier and politician who served as Transportation Minister of Israel, Minister of Transportation for eight years. Background Born in Mińsk Mazowiecki in ...

were injured by shrapnel. The grenade that Moshe Dwek threw had been intended for Ben-Gurion and Meir. Dwek later asked Shapira for forgiveness. Dwek's assassination attempt resulted in the establishment of the

Knesset Guard The Knesset Guard (; ''Mishmar HaKnesset'') is an Israeli protective security unit. The Knesset Guard is responsible for the security of the Knesset building and protection of Knesset members (MKs). Guards are stationed outside the building, an ...

and

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; he, שֵׁירוּת הַבִּיטָּחוֹן הַכְּלָלִי; ''Sherut ha-Bitaẖon haKlali''; "the General Security Service"; ar, جهاز الأمن العام), better known by the acronym Shabak ( he, ...

's VIP protection unit. The incident was allegedly prompted by Dwek's inability to receive

national insurance National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their famil ...

for his declining health, and was apparently not prompted by larger

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

issues. Although he was portrayed as psychologically unbalanced, a panel of experts agreed that he was fit to stand

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

and he was sentenced to 15 years in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

, part of which he spent in a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

. Requests for a retrial were rejected. After 10 years, Dwek requested a pardon, but this was denied. A slightly different account, published in 1959, gives his name as Moshe Ben Yaakov Dueg, 25 years old. This version says he suffered an accident in childhood that left him mentally unbalanced. He had another accident in a youth camp after coming to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

just before the founding of the state of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He then tried to sue the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

for $66,000. After losing the case he sent threatening letters to the judge and was arrested. He was found unfit for trial. In another incident he tried to stowaway on a plane to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He had no party affiliations. Following the grenade attack, Ben-Gurion wrote a personal letter to his parents, who were living in a hut, without electricity, in a village near Tel Aviv. They spoke only

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and the courier translated the letter for them.St. John, Robert (1959) ''Ben-Gurion''. Jarrods (Hutchinson), London. pp. 304–307. Dwek later started his own

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

, which he named ''Tarshish'', and ran for the Knesset in 1988. The

party platform A political party platform (US English), party program, or party manifesto (preferential term in British & often Commonwealth English) is a formal set of principle goals which are supported by a political party or individual candidate, in order ...

called for an end to

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

hegemony Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over oth ...

, and integrating the

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

and

Mizrahi ''Mizrachi'' or ''Mizrahi'' ( he, מזרחי) has two meanings. In the literal Hebrew meaning ''Eastern'', it may refer to: *Mizrahi Jews, Jews from the Middle East * Mizrahi (surname), a Sephardic surname, given to Jews who got to the Iberian P ...

Jews into the leadership by giving them half of all government ministries, as well as widespread representation in the Knesset, municipalities, and the

. Its other demands included setting up a university, college, and a religious polytechnic institute in the coastal city of

Netanya Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate I ...

. He is remembered for his unusual TV advertisements, which would start off with Dwek chanting the words ''No'ar, No'ar, No'ar'' (literally "youth, youth, youth"). Gaining only 1,654 votes for Tarshish, Dwek failed in his attempt to win a seat in the 12th Knesset.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwek, Moshe 1931 births Living people People from Aleppo Israeli people of Syrian-Jewish descent Syrian Jews Syrian emigrants to Israel Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israeli criminals Leaders of political parties in Israel Failed assassins