Israel: Ben Gvir’s department illegally issued weapons licenses

weapons licenses

The National Security Ministry of Israel has been ordered by the Be’er Sheva Magistrate’s Court to provide information about the distribution of weapons licences to settlers in the West Bank. The orders come as part of an inquiry launched by the Israeli Police’s National Fraud Investigation Unit on the 27th of June according to Middle East Monitor.

Investigators demanded that Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir staff must provide documents, recordings and telephone transcripts concerning the distribution of firearms. Gali Baharav Miara, a judicial advisor to the government, was said to have approved of the investigation in March though several sources state that it had only started recently.

Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, reported that the senior police officials had postponed the probe out of fears Ben Gvir would penalise the law enforcement unit.

READ: Documents reveal Israel’s plans for more Jerusalem settlements

One officer stated that “they were simply afraid to discuss it. They will do anything not to investigate, because they are afraid that matters will reach Ben-Gvir himself. This is a prominent criminal file, and those involved in it should have been in the investigation rooms a long time ago.”

Two of Ben-Gvir’s employees including his adviser, David Bavli, and his secretary, Nili Kadosh, were revealed to be implicated in the case in November. Kadosh was permitted to carry firearms despite not meeting the requirements to do so by a police officer that was later promoted.

The recipients of the weapons licenses were prominent media figures and individuals close to Ben-Gvir’s office and far right party, Otzma Yehudit.

Israel has carried out 9,430 arrests in the West Bank in near daily raids since the October 7th attacks. The occupied territory has also seen over 500 Palestinian deaths, more than three times the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank in 2022.

Middle East Monitor and agencies

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