Gun licenses revoked from several members of ‘Brothers in Arms’ protest group
Activists in anti-overhaul organization say they were told to turn in their firearms after being detained during rallies against the government’s judicial overhaul plan
Tal Schneider is a Political Correspondent at The Times of Israel
At least seven members of the anti-overhaul protest movement “Brothers in Arms” have had their gun licenses revoked, receiving notices from the National Security Ministry calling on them to surrender their weapons to a police station.
The Brothers in Arms group has been among the most active protest organizations in the country in recent months, including leading a fiery rally outside Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s house in Modiin on Tuesday.
Six members of the group were arrested after protesters burned tires and blocked roads in front of Levin’s home. They were later released to house arrest, barred from Levin’s hometown of Modiin for 15 days and banned from taking part in any protests for 10 days.
“In the coming weeks, we’ll intensify the struggle for the country’s character, and the nation of Israel must in all its might join the efforts to safeguard democracy,” Brothers in Arms said in a statement on Tuesday.
A day earlier, Brothers in Arms member Itzik Medina was arrested at home and accused of planning to carry out violent activities, then released. His questioning sparked a raucous protest outside the police station in Petah Tikva.
Hen Slutzky, a member of the protest group, told The Times of Israel that in mid-May he received a text message and later a letter informing him that his gun license had been revoked due to “indecent exposure and non-normative behavior.” On May 25 he turned in his weapon, he said.
Slutzky, a major in the IDF reserves who fought in the Second Lebanon War and volunteers with the Border Police in patrolling settlements, said he has been an active protester over the past few months.
He was among those who staged a protest in March at the Jerusalem offices of the Kohelet Policy Forum — a conservative think tank deeply involved in the judicial overhaul — placing sandbags and barbed wire at the entrance to the offices.
Slutzky said he was detained and questioned over the incident, and barred from entering Jerusalem for 15 days. The police investigation into his actions remains open, he said.
Similarly, Brother in Arms activist Yuval Hadar received a text message in mid-June informing him that his gun license had been revoked. Hadar, commander of a paratroopers company in the reserves, said he was briefly detained and then released in March after he blocked the Ayalon Highway with a group of anti-government protesters.
Hadar said the form he received cited an alleged construction violation from several years ago, which he said was suspect since he had successfully renewed his gun license multiple times since then.
Hadar, who said he is a licensed tour guide based in the south who regularly takes groups of children on tours of the desert, was told by police to delay handing in his weapon.
“I think they’re just harassing me for no reason,” Hadar said. “I presented them with the fact that I need to go out on a field trip with children this week and next week, and a police officer told me: ‘Well, don’t bring the weapon to police now, but only when you finish the next field trip.'”
Police told The Times of Israel that they regularly examine police records when it comes to issues of approving or denying gun licenses. But they added that the Israel Police only makes recommendations, while the gun licensing division of the National Security Ministry makes the decision, and “any attempt to connect the revocation of licenses to the fact that a license holder is a protester has no basis.”
Police said that since the start of the year, 607 firearm licenses have been revoked.
In February, National Security Minister Ben Gvir announced a plan to streamline gun license applications and make it easier to be approved, including abolishing the requirement of interviews for security officials, including IDF officers.
This report first appeared in Hebrew on Zman Yisrael, the Hebrew sister site of The Times of Israel.
