Head of Israel’s Gun Licensing Authority Says Ben-Gvir’s Policy Leading to ‘Loss of Control’
The Israeli official in charge of approving firearms permits urged to the far-right minister to reverse his policy after it was revealed that Ben-Gvir’s associates had been appointed to handle requests without the necessary authorization
The head of the National Security Ministry’s gun licensing department admitted that before he announced his resignation earlier this month, he had approved Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s relaxation of firearms ownership rules and urged him to reverse the policy. Although he has announced his resignation, Yisrael Avisar continues to work in the ministry, saying he has a few months left in his contract.
A day after Haaretz reported that confidants of Ben-Gvir had been given the authority to approve gun permit requests, Yisrael Avisar wrote a letter to the minister imploring him to stop the permissive gun policy “a moment before there is a loss of control.” A senior security official described the letter as “an indictment Avisar wrote against himself and Ben-Gvir, after he let the minister hand out guns like candy.”
Just hours after Avisar sent the letter to Ben-Gvir, the Attorney General’s Office reprimanded Yisrael Avisar for allowing the minister to appoint associates as be “temporary licensing officials” and issue provisional gun permits.
By Josh Breiner
