Abraham Tzafati, 24-year-old Jew who was arrested in the Knesset last night when he aimed a loaded Sten gun at Premier David Ben Gurion and other members of the Israel Cabinet seated on the Speaker’s platform, went on a hunger strike today.
Tzafati, who is described by his friends as a tall, dark-skinned youth who is “peaceful, but somewhat crazy,” asked police officials to permit him to take his own life. He insisted further that he did not intend to injure any members of the Israel Cabinet, but planned instead to commit suicide before members of the Knesset because his plan for the erection of a 12-story edifice on the site of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem to serve as a center for world peace in accordance with Biblical prophecy had been turned down.
The detained youth said that failure by the Knesset to adopt his plan was hastening the advent of the third world war. Tzafati immigrated to Israel from Teheran and is a shepherd in the Mapai settlement, Tel Gezzor. It was explained that the Sten gun in his possession was issued to him and other members of his colony as a self-defense measure.
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