The increase was made possible by the loosening of gun laws in Israel
With many Israelis gripped by a sense of insecurity following the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, the number of women applying for gun licenses has soared, while feminist groups have criticized the arms race.
According to data from the Ministry of Security, there have been 42,000 applications for weapons licenses from women since the attack, with 18,000 approved, more than tripling the number of pre-war licenses held by women.
The increase was made possible by the loosening of gun laws under Israel’s right-wing government and its far-right security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir.
More than 15,000 civilian women now own a firearm in Israel and the occupied West Bank, with 10,000 enrolled in mandatory training, according to the ministry.
“I would never have thought about buying a gun or getting a license, but since October 7 things have changed a little,” political science teacher Limor Gonen told AFP during a weapons handling class at a shooting range in the settlement of Ariel, in the West Bank. .
The October 7 attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive killed at least 37,431 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.
“We were all targeted (on Oct. 7) and I don’t want to be caught off guard, so I’m trying to defend myself,” Gonen said after class, a mandatory step in obtaining a license.
100,000 armed civilians
Although the immediate trigger for the increase in weapons purchases was the Hamas attack, Ben Gvir had already committed to reforming firearms legislation when he became Minister of Security at the end of 2022.
He promised to increase the number of civilians carrying weapons and “increase self-defense capabilities.”
Under Ben Gvir, the process of obtaining a gun license was accelerated, with Israeli media reporting that in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attack, authorities were frequently withdrawing hundreds of licenses per day.
Eligibility criteria for gun ownership in Israel now include being a citizen or permanent resident over the age of 18, basic knowledge of Hebrew, and medical clearance.
The full list of requirements makes it nearly impossible for non-Jews to obtain a license.
In March, Ben Gvir, himself a settler in the West Bank, praised civilian gun ownership surpassing the 100,000 mark, while displaying his own gun at a rally.
But his rush to put deadly weapons in the hands of ordinary Israelis has also drawn criticism.
The Gun Free Kitchen Tables Coalition, an Israeli initiative founded by feminist activists, condemned the civilian arms race.
It is “a strategy of far-right settlers to consider arming women a feminist act,” a spokesperson for the group of 18 organizations told AFP.
“The increase in weapons in civilian space leads to an increase in violence and murders against women. It is time for the State to understand that individual safety is its responsibility.”
‘Safer’
Community manager Yahel Reznik, 24, said she now feels “much safer” in Ariel, which is three kilometers north of the Palestinian town of Salfit.
“Thanks to my training I will be able to defend myself and protect others” from an attack, she told AFP.
Violence in the West Bank, which was already on the rise before the war, has increased since 7 October.
At least 549 Palestinians have been killed by settlers and Israeli troops across the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Authority.
Attacks carried out by Palestinians have killed at least 14 Israelis, according to an AFP count of official Israeli data.
The rise in gun ownership is not limited to West Bank settlers. In the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, Corine Nissim said she never leaves home without her gun.
The 42-year-old English teacher took her three children to the park with a 9mm Smith & Wesson in the back of her pants.
“After October 7, I think, like most people in Israel, I realized that the only person I can trust is myself,” she told AFP, adding that she bought a gun so she wouldn’t feel “defenseless.”
“The worst-case scenario going through my head was that, of course, terrorists attacked me and my family in our own home,” said the mother.
Her decision to own a gun initially surprised some people in the coastal city known for its tranquility and safety, she said.
“People were watching me and saying, ‘It’s so surreal to see you like this with a gun and the baby,'” Nissim said.
But, she said, others began to agree with her and said they would follow suit.
“A lot of women told me, ‘I’m going to do it. I’m going to get a gun too.'”
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