On a quiet Saturday night in Jerusalem’s Ramot Bet neighborhood, August 13, 2011, the illusion of domestic safety shattered. Inside a private home on Leharan Street – lined with bookshelves and family photos – Nurit and Nah Maoz were brutally murdered. The killer was not an intruder, but their own son, Daniel Maoz, whose secret gambling addiction had spiraled into crushing debt
The model son who became a killer
Daniel Maoz had been seen as gifted, sociable, and destined for success. He served as an officer in the IDF’s Manpower Directorate, earned a law degree with honors, and built a career as an intellectual property attorney. But behind the image, a deepening addiction to gambling drained his finances and trust. According to the investigation, when his pleas for more money were refused, he planned the murder with cold calculation. He stabbed his father with a kitchen knife, then turned on his mother as she tried to escape. He cleaned the crime scene with bleach, destroyed clothing, and attempted to fabricate an alibi in Tel Aviv
(Police Shocked in Jerusalem: 13-Year-Old Behind the Wheel)
“I still can’t believe I taught a murderer,” said his former elementary school teacher. “Danny was intelligent, sensitive, and mature. I loved him dearly. He was the twin brother of Nir, from a warm and respected family. When I first heard his name as a suspect, I refused to believe it. I could not understand how such a sensitive child could commit something so unthinkable
Shockwaves in Jerusalem and beyond
Nah Maoz was a respected dentist in Jerusalem, while Nurit Maoz served as a deputy director at Israel’s Ministry of Justice. Their deaths shook not only their community but the entire country. The case left lingering questions: How can society detect a dangerous descent in someone who seems “normal”? At what point does addiction cross the line into violence? And how much responsibility do family, friends, and institutions carry to intervene before it is too late
(Death of Former Palestine Captain – Jerusalem to Gaza)
A double life sentence and an enduring scar
On July 1, 2013, the Jerusalem District Court convicted Daniel Maoz of murdering his parents. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus five additional years for destroying evidence. His attempts to frame his twin brother Nir with a forged letter failed. Daniel remains behind bars, while the tragedy remains frozen in the public memory – a private nightmare that became a mirror reflecting deeper cracks in society
