Shaken by the Oct. 7 massacre, some Israelis turn to Krav Maga to learn self-defense
At Moshe Katz’s dojo in his basement in Ma’ale Adumim, men and women roleplay events from the Hamas onslaught to be better prepared for terrorist attack
Inside a West Bank settlement, ultra-Orthodox martial arts instructor Moshe Katz oversees students role-playing events from the October 7 Hamas onslaught, teaching them how to reverse the guns in a hostage scenario.
“I’ll take you hostage first, then you do it to me,” he told a student while brandishing a blue rubber Kalashnikov during a simulation for Krav Maga, an Israeli fighting discipline.
Switching to playing a hostage, Katz told the student to grab him by the back of the shirt.
“So now he’s grabbing me here and I’m saying I’m not gonna be a victim, no way,” Katz said, before seizing the barrel of the fake gun and flipping it on the would-be assailant.
“It’s your turn to die today, not mine!” he yelled.
Katz, 63, has converted the basement of his house into a makeshift dojo for teaching Krav Maga.
The self-defense system, which involves an aggressive fighting style and targeted strikes to weak points such as the throat and groin, is an amalgamation of various martial arts, boxing and wrestling and has been taught in Israel’s military for decades.
With many Israelis gripped by a sense of insecurity since October 7, Katz saw an opportunity to spread his knowledge about the hand-to-hand fighting system.
“I think thousands of years of our history has proven that we need to know how to defend ourselves,” said trainee Mordechai Sachs, 56, who had driven for an hour from Jerusalem.
The October 7 massacre saw thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invade Israel from Gaza, kill some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnap 251.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 38,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the resulting war so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.
‘Buying more guns’
Katz’s lessons run through multiple scenarios, including fending off a stabbing attack with kitchen dishes and disarming a gunman holding up a convenience store.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October, violence in the West Bank, which was already restive, has surged to levels not seen since the Second Intifada 20 years ago.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 4,400 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,850 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 560 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed during raids or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 22 Israelis, including security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another five members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
Katz said some students have stopped driving to evening Krav Maga classes due to security fears.
“They’re reluctant to come at night,” he said.
Numbers at his bi-weekly classes have fallen by half to fewer than 10 pupils since the war broke out, which Katz attributes to a proliferation of guns.
The government loosened restrictions on private gun ownership in March and sales have since soared.
“I wish I could tell you that people are flocking to learn Krav Maga, but they’re not,” said Katz. “What I’ve seen is people are buying more guns.”
One trainee, Esther Cohen, turned up for class with a recently purchased gun tucked into her waistband.
“There’s some pretty violent stuff going on,” Cohen said. “I don’t want to be helpless.”
But Katz said the extra seconds needed for drawing for a pistol could be “the difference between life and death.”
In the central Israel city of Ra’anana, another Krav Maga gym said its bookings had returned.
“After the war… less training actually took place. Later, we actually saw some kind of desire of people to learn to defend themselves,” said Jonathan, a 22-year-old instructor who declined to give his last name.
For Katz, the need for Israelis to learn self-defense is straightforward: “We are the first line of defense, and we are the last line of defense.”
Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.
