Michael Ben Moshe, 26: Shin Bet agent exhibited ‘maturity and caring’

Michael Ben Moshe (Mosheashvili), 26, from Sderot, was killed battling the Hamas invasion of southern Israel.

The morning of the attack, Michael was spending the holiday with family in Ashkelon. When he realized what was going on, decided he had to set out and join the battle.

Though he hadn’t been called up, Michael left the house at 8:20 a.m. and convinced some of his comrades to join him. He was on his way to gather weapons from Zikim when he encountered a cell of Hamas gunmen and engaged in a firefight, killing several of them, before he was shot dead.

He was buried in Ashkelon on October 13. He is survived by his wife, Aviya and their son, Lavi, 2, his parents, Marina and Yaakov and his siblings, Yafit, Tzlil, Ariel and Elad.

Michael’s older brother, Netanel, was killed in 2012 in a gunfight with a Palestinian infiltrator near the Gaza border while he was serving in the IDF.

Born and raised in Ashkelon, Michael grew up in a religious family, attending a local yeshiva and then a religious pre-military academy, according to a state eulogy.

According to an online memorial page, Michael studied mixed martial arts as a teen and also volunteered with the Israel Fire and Rescue Services.

He enlisted in the IDF in November 2017, joining the Golani Brigade and serving as a sniper and later a commander.

After he and Aviya wed in 2019, they decided to change their family name from Mosheashvili to Ben Moshe. Their son Lavi was born in April 2021.

In 2021, he joined the Shin Bet, “demonstrating great dedication and commitment,” the agency wrote in a eulogy.

The Shin Bet described him as “strong-willed, dominant and charismatic, with a strong work ethic, very social and deeply admired. Michael was endowed with emotional intelligence, maturity and caring.” The agency added that he was a “natural leader who never compromised on his values… and always acted with integrity.”

Aviya told the Ynet news site that the pair met when they were 16, when she attended a Torah class in memory of Michael’s brother, Netanel.

“I was crying, and Michael saw me and came over to me. I came again, and after every class he would come over to me — that’s how we started to talk,” she said. “We got to know each other because of his brother, and now they’re buried next to each other.”

Aviya said she always sensed that “this moment would come. I would look at him and cry and say, ‘Stop, don’t always be the first one to act, I’m afraid,'” she said. “Michael would always hug me and say, ‘I don’t want to die, I want to grow old with you.’ But it couldn’t be helped.”

She said their son, now 3, “knows everything and understands everything. But he’s strong and he knows that Dad is a hero, and that he went and he saved us.”

His father, Yaakov, wrote on Facebook to “my heroic son. You were always a role model and an inspiration.”

“I thank God for the privilege that you were my son,” he added. “It is so hard for me without you. I pray and hope to see you together with Nati soon, with the redemption of the people of Israel.”

Yaakov said that Michael’s “heroic actions will serve as a model for learning and admiration. I believe that you and Nati will work together with all of the heroes to establish peace among us.”

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