Israel’s Health Ministry is asking civilians with gun licenses to serve as security at hospitals as the war with Hamas continues.
The Times of Israel reported that the Health Ministry is asking gun license holders to volunteer for security, both at hospitals “and healthcare facilities.”
Hospitals and healthcare locations in Israel could face a shortfall in security because some guards serve in the military and have been called up for service against Hamas. Consequently, the longer the war with Hamas lasts, the greater the need will be for civilian volunteers to serve as security.
Civilian gun ownership in Israel is low, compared to a country like the United States, but Israeli leaders are working to broaden gun ownership by expediting the licensing process.
This expedition has contributed to a run on guns in areas like Samaria, where, on October 11, 2023, Breitbart News noted unarmed residents were flooding into offices to fill out the paperwork necessary to secure a gun license.
The Jewish News Syndicate noted, “The local Maccabi health clinic was teeming with crowds scrambling for health applications for gun permits. It was tense but congenial as doctors scrambled to fill out forms.” There was also a line at the Town Hall, as those seeking gun licenses went through the process to show proof of residency.
On October 10, 2023, Breitbart News pointed out Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced 10,000 assault rifles were being purchased and distributed to civilian security teams in communities along the country’s borders.
Ben Gvir has been criticized as an “extremist” in the past but he was elected in 2022 when he took a stand in favor of arming more Israelis–creating an armed “national guard”–in response to rioting by Israeli Arabs against Israeli Jews.
On August 10, 2023, the Times of Israel noted Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stood against Ben Gvir’s “national guard,” calling it a “private militia.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.