NAME: Aviani Moshe

LEHI ALIAS: Reuven

DATE OF BIRTH: 1931

Moshe, son of Yoseph and Tsuria, was born 1931 in Neve-Zedek Tel-Aviv. His parents made Aliyah 1929 from Aden. His father was a vegetable merchant at the Shabazi Market. His mother raised their seven children. Moshe’s education began in a Cheder with a ‘Mori’. Afterwards he studied in a Talmud-Torah at the Machane-Yosef neighbourhood, continuing in ‘Kalisher’ school Tel-Aviv. Aged fourteen he joined  Beitar. He was recruited to Lehi end of 1946. Moshe was integrated into the Cell headed by ‘Ariela’ (later killed in an accidental explosion at the weapons storage location she ran in Jerusalem).  No-one in his family knew of his activities. His many absences were justified as simply being “Beitar activities”.  He engaged in pasting up info-bulletins on walls, moving instruction-material between Cells, and surveillance. He was training with light weapons and engaged in ideology discussions. The British arrested him twice. First for putting up info-bulletins on Rosh-Hashana eve. He was released on bail by his parents. Second time, he was caught in possession of instruction material and was  bailed out by his employer and fined. Moshe had to leave his parents’ house because of his underground activities and went to stay in the Marmurek Orchard. To earn a living he worked in the store owned by Geula Cohen’s father. Following the Declaration of Independence, he participated with all the Lehi members  in the  Sheikh-Munis  Parade, after which they all enlisted in the IDF. He was a wireless radio operator in an anti-tank unit, adjoined to the 8th Brigade. He took part in the liberation of the Negev: at Outposts 115 and 103, at the Iraq-Souidan police, Beer-Sheba, Ujja el-Chafir, Rafiach, and more. Moshe was discharged 1950, and married Bat-Sheva in 1954. They have three children and eleven grandchildren. In 1956 Moshe began working at Bank of Israel, rose to administrative positions, and served as chairman of the Managers’ Organisation. He was one of the Authorized Signatories on the bank’s executive board, a position he filled until retiring, 1995.

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