
The Knesset’s National Security Committee recently approved a proposal allowing all ex-combat soldiers who served in the past 20 years to apply for a firearms license. Those who never served in combat will also be allowed to request a gun license, as will anyone over the age of 21 who completed nonmilitary national service. Women’s organizations say that those loosened restrictions will make women’s lives more dangerous, especially since the Ministry of Welfare is not involved in reviewing license applications.
For decades, Israel had relatively strict gun laws requiring a high burden of proof that a gun was required and a long waiting period to receive a license. When Itamar Ben Gvir took officer as national security minister in 2022, he vowed to increase the number of guns in Israelis’ hands and began loosening restrictions. That effort was redoubled after the October 7 attacks.
Many groups are critical of Ben Gvir’s efforts to increase gun ownership in Israel, especially given his far-right, openly racist agenda. But women’s organizations are particularly concerned about the impact that easy access to guns will have on abused women. So far this year, 20 women in Israel were murdered by their partners. Twenty-nine were murdered last year. Yet the Ministry of Welfare is still not included in the examination procedure for granting firearms licenses.
“Today, the Knesset approved yet another expansion of the regulations for the distribution of weapons in Israel, causing thousands more Israelis to become eligible, some of whom have never held a weapon in their lives and did not serve in the army,” Hagit Pe’er, president of the Israeli women’s organization Na’amat, said. “A gun for every citizen does not guarantee security, quite the opposite. This may increase the number of victims of domestic violence and suicides in Israel.”
Na’amat called on the Israeli government to “stop the policy of reckless distribution of weapons and take responsibility for the security of the people.”
Moran Zer Katzenstein, a social activist who founded the Women Building an Alternative feminist organization, said she has received calls from women who are scared that their abusive partner has a weapon in the house. “The Ministries of Welfare and National Security must be part of the process,” she said. “Distributing weapons indiscriminately will introduce a dimension of terror into families.”
The Israel Women’s Network also expressed concerns about over-permissive gun regulations. “Give firearms to citizens who are able to save lives, but keep firearms away from violent attackers who threaten the safety of women,” Tal Hochman, CEO of the network, said. “A weapon in a violent home is a ticking time bomb. The distribution of weapons to civilians without supervision and without coordination between the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Welfare leaves threatened women exposed and endangered.”
Hochman said that the Ministry of Welfare and the Ministry of National Security have had more than a year to create a mechanism to keep weapons out of the hands of domestic abusers. Members of all the relevant committees agree that this is a priority, but no one has put it into practice.
“We are approached by women begging us to stop giving weapons to men who threaten them,” Hochman said. “I cannot understand how the distribution of weapons is being expanded without a coinciding regulation to protect the public.”
Lawmaker Zvika Fogel of the right-wing Otzma Yehudit party defended the decision to loosen gun laws, ignoring the potential role that the decision may have on abused women. “Those who contribute to and defend the country will be able to protect themselves and strengthen the sense of security around them,” he said. “We are not only correcting years of injustice for the soldiers who served the country, but also opening the door for citizens who served in civil service to protect themselves, and at the same time strengthening the sense of security for those around them. Those who contributed and defended the country deserve to be able to protect themselves and those close to them.”
This article was translated from Hebrew by Etz Greenfeld.