Born in Jerusalem, Rabi Moshe Levinger, who founded Gush Emunin in 1974, was the leader of the Jewish settlement movement in the West Bank. In June 1968, Levinger brought thirty families to a hotel in Hebron, eventually forcing the government to grant them the right to create a community. In 1988, following an attack on his car in Hebron, Levinger shot at a group of nearby Palestinians, killing one. He was convicted of causing death by negligence in 1990 and served three-months in prison.