Musa Alperon remained famous for being a boss in one of Israel’s most storied crime families despite his departure from the life of crime over 20 years ago.
By BEN HARTMANUpdated: NOVEMBER 23, 2015 02:15Musa Alperon.(photo credit: YOSSI ALONI)
Organized crime boss Musa Alperon was found dead in his house in Givat Shmuel on Sunday morning.The 63-year-old died in his sleep, and police do not suspect foul play.Though he left the life of crime more than twenty years ago, Musa remained famous for being a boss in one of Israel’s most storied crime families. Musa, along with his brothers Yaakov, Nissim, Zalman, and Aryeh, ran a criminal organization that, for many years, was one of the main targets of the Israel Police.The Alperon family rose to fame in the late 70s, when they began running gambling parlors, nightclubs, extortion rackets and later bottle recycling rackets in the Tel Aviv area.They became some of the most famous underworld figures in Israel. Yaakov was particularly well known and was featured with his wife, Ahuva, and children on an Israeli reality show, filmed partially in their Ra’anana home, shortly before he was killed in 2008 by a car bomb.Musa left the underworld life after an attempted hit in 1995, during which a car bomb blew off one of his legs.He was also famously an active member of the Likud Central Committee for years.The glory days for the Alperon family are today long behind them. The family never recovered from the murder of then-boss Yaakov Alperon, and Yaakov’s son Dror never managed to become the boss that his father was.Today the most important member of the family is Nissim Alperon, the survivor of at least 10 attempts on his life. Nissim was arrested earlier this year as part of the “Case 512” organized crime investigation, but is not a prominent underworld figure or a major target of the Israel Police.