Ben Gvir celebrates issuing 100,000 gun licenses since October 7
Minister asserts women were raped and murdered on October 7 ‘because there were not enough weapons,’ saying his office has given out permits to tens of thousands of women
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Putting more weapons on the streets has made Israel safer, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declared on Monday, celebrating the fact that his office has approved 100,000 gun licenses since October 7.
“This week, we reached a milestone at the National Security Ministry: The 100,000th citizen received their firearms license,” said Ben Gvir, standing in front of a poster with an image of a handgun and the slogan “100K Israelis armed,” ahead of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
“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,” he said.
“We have seen throughout the last months how much a weapon saves lives,” he continued, stating “the dimensions of the [October 7] disaster were less” in places where “civilians could protect themselves.”
“We have also seen this in recent [terror] attacks, and I think that the work at the National Security Ministry is proving itself,” he added.
Asked about concerns relating to crime and domestic violence raised by women’s groups, concerned by the influx of guns in the public sphere, Ben Gvir responded that his ministry is working to make sure that weapons only end up “in the right hands.”
Women were raped and murdered on October 7 “because there were not enough weapons,” he argued, adding that he had given out permits to “tens of thousands of armed women who can now defend themselves.”
Requests for gun permits surged following Hamas’s massive attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were slaughtered, many amid brutal atrocities. The National Security Ministry also granted temporary authority to approve gun license applications to Ben Gvir’s personal staff appointees, Knesset employees and others.
Between October 7 and mid-November, more requests for gun permits were filed than in the previous 20 years.
Hebrew daily 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 his obtaining a gun license.
Ben Gvir, who has previously been convicted for incitement to racism and supporting a terror organization, has himself threatened people with his own personal 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.
בן גביר שולף אקדח הערב בשייח ג׳ראח לאחר שהושלכו לכיוונו אבנים וקורא לשוטרים, שבעיקר ניסו להרחיק אותו מהזירה, לפתוח באש חיה. קרדיט: זושא לוסטיג, חדשות כל העולם pic.twitter.com/rftwPsHV1c
— דפנה ליאל (@DaphnaLiel) October 13, 2022
Last November, the United States reportedly delayed a shipment of 4,500 M-16 rifles due to concerns that Ben Gvir would use them to arm settlers in the West Bank and was inappropriately distributing the weapons at political events.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
