19 March 2024; MEMO: Israel’s Labor Party has submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice, urging Israel’s hard line National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, to rescind gun licences issued in violation of the regulations process.
Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon informed the Knesset National Security Committee in December that around 14,000 gun licences had been improperly authorised since 7 October, following a campaign by Ben-Gvir and the National Security Ministry to boost gun ownership in response to the 7 October attack on Israel.
The petition by the Labor Party highlights that unauthorised individuals, including young women serving in national service, Knesset employees, and Ben-Gvir’s political appointees, were involved in the approval of gun licences. It also points out that some licences were granted without the necessary training for the applicants, reported the Times of Israel.
Moreover, the petition emphasises that more than half of the applicants received their licences without a personal interview, and some were ineligible to own a gun due to a history of violence, both of which violate the regulations for gun licensing.
Armed civilians openly carrying pistols in holsters on their hips and off-duty soldiers with their service weapons are common sights in Israel and in illegal Jewish-only settlements in the occupied West Bank.
READ: Israel: Senior arms licensing official resigns over Ben-Gvir’s ‘reckless’ policies
The far-right minister claimed yesterday that increasing the number of firearms in the streets has improved Israel’s safety, while celebrating the approval of 100,000 gun licences by his office since 7 October.
Addressing reporters at his far-right Otzma Yehudit Party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Ben-Gvir announced the milestone, with a backdrop featuring a handgun and the slogan “100K Israelis armed.”
He emphasised: “This week, we reached a milestone at the National Security Ministry: The 100,000th citizen received their firearms licence. In fact, out of 299,354 applications submitted since the war more than 100,000 citizens have already been approved to arm themselves, because weapons save lives.”
“We have seen throughout the last months how much a weapon saves lives,” he added, stating “the dimensions of the October 7 disaster were less in places where civilians could protect themselves.”
According to the Times of Israel, when questioned about concerns expressed by women’s groups regarding the potential rise in crime and domestic violence due to the increased presence of firearms in public, Ben-Gvir assured that his ministry is actively ensuring that weapons are only entrusted to individuals deemed responsible.
He argued that 7 October occurred “because there were not enough weapons,” and that he had issued permits to “tens of thousands of armed women who can now defend themselves.”
Since taking office, Ben-Gvir has relentlessly worked to facilitate the conditions for issuing licences to carry weapons, which drastically escalated since 7 October. Since then, the number of applications to obtain a weapon has reached 255,000.
