5 ex-employees of Ben Gvir’s office probed for unlawful issuance of gun permits
Far-right minister says investigation is a further attempt by the attorney general to undermine him, accuses her of conducting ‘a coup against democracy’
Five people who previously worked in National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s office were investigated Monday by the Israel Police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit in a probe into suspicions that the ministry issued firearms permits without authority.
Ben Gvir confirmed the probe and accused Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of conducting “a coup against democracy,” in the latest clash between the government and judicial authorities.
The investigation has dealt primarily with employees in the National Security Ministry, but according to reports, five temporary employees in Ben Gvir’s office were also suspected of issuing unlawful gun permits.
The suspects were employed by Ben Gvir between October 8 and December 2 last year, in order to deal with the large influx of firearm permit applications in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in southern Israel, Channel 12 news reported.
The Haaretz daily, citing a police source, said several of the suspects had been called in for questioning.
Ben Gvir’s efforts to massively increase the number of gun licenses have been the centerpiece of his activities in the ministry. He has argued that it helps counter terror attacks.
In March this year, the far-right minister announced that he had approved 100,000 gun licenses since October 7, 2023, saying that “weapons save lives.” On Monday, he told a meeting of his Knesset faction that a further 80,000 licenses have been approved since.
Requests for gun permits surged following Hamas’s assault on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were slaughtered amid brutal atrocities and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza. The National Security Ministry also granted temporary authority to approve gun license applications to Ben Gvir’s personal staff appointees, Knesset employees and others.
However, Haaretz claimed in December that thousands of licenses were granted illegally, and that Ben Gvir intervened personally to help former spy-for-Israel Jonathan Pollard overcome police and court objections to him obtaining a gun license.
Ben Gvir, in response to the investigations, accused Baharav-Miara on Monday of conducting “a coup against democracy.”
“Nothing was done illegally,” the ultranationalist lawmaker insisted. “What we have is a political state attorney and state prosecutor who are trying to fabricate cases and stage a coup against the right-wing government.”
“You will not deter me, I am proud of the firearms reform, and I have no intention of allowing this coup to continue,” he warned.
In response to the reports, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel said that more than 1,100 gun licenses had been illegally granted and that there were “suspicions that members of the minister’s office gave priority to those close to him while evading regulations.”
The watchdog called on the police and the attorney general to also probe Ben Gvir’s personal responsibility in the matter, and called for the state to revoke licenses that were not granted properly and confiscate the weapons.
“It is a clear and present danger to the public and we can’t wait even one day,” it said.
The reform has raised concerns that the influx of guns in the public sphere would cause a spike in crime and domestic violence against women.
Ben Gvir, who has previously been convicted for incitement to racism and supporting a terror organization, has threatened people with his own handgun on more than one occasion.
In December 2021, the Knesset security chief summoned him for a talk after he brandished a pistol during an argument with Arab parking attendants in Tel Aviv.
The following October, he again brandished a gun during a tour of an East Jerusalem neighborhood, at a time of intense clashes between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians.
