Muhammad VII al-Munsif, (; 4 March 1881 in La Manouba – 1 September 1948 in Pau)) commonly known as Moncef Bey () was the Bey of Tunis between 19 June 1942 and 14 May 1943. He was the penultimate ruler of the Husainid dynasty. Youth As a young man Moncef Bey distinguished himself during the events of April 1922 when he supported the nationalist Destour movement and prevailed on his father Naceur Bey to receive its representatives. He was invested as Bey al-Mahalla on 30 April 1942 and succeeded his first cousin once removed, Ahmed Bey, on the latter's death on 19 June of the same year. Reign Relations with the Vichy regime On 2 July 1942 Moncef Bey was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur by the Vichy regime. Nevertheless, his attitude on the throne was not one which France found easy to deal with. Thus, in a memorandum of 2 August 1942 to Marshall Pétain presented by his Grand Vizier Hédi Lakhoua he reaffirmed his belief in Tunisian sovereignty, undiminished by the French protectorate. He insisted on the establishment of a consultative legislative Council in which Tunisians would predominate; access to civil service roles for Tunisians, and measures against poverty and unemployment. He also wanted compulsory schooling in Arabic, the nationalisation of key enterprises, and a range of other measures of a broadly nationalist character. On 12 October 1942 at the Eid al-Fitr ceremonies in the palace of La Marsa, Moncef Bey expressed his surprise that there was not a single Tunisian among the senior government personnel who were attending with the French Resident General, Admiral Jean-Pierre Esteva. Esteva replied 'seuls les Français sont aptes aux postes de commande' ('only the French are suited to positions of authority'). The Bey then sent a telegram to Marshal Pétain asking for Esteva to be recalled. and tension continued to mount between the Bey and Esteva In December 1942, a confrontation blew up during a session of the Council of Ministers between Esteva and the Minister of Justice Abdeljelil Zaouche, after the Minister expressed reservations about funding for the National Gendarmerie and Esteva angrily rejected any criticism of the gendarmerie. Moncef Bey considered that the Resident General's tone was an insult to his representative and thus to his own person. Axis troops arrived in Tunisia on 19 November 1942 and the Tunisian Campaign turned much of the country into