Ben Gvir bars Jewish anti-Zionist movement from carrying guns

What Happened

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir expanded the firearms licensing scheme to Beit Shemesh, a city near Jerusalem with a large ultra-Orthodox population, while explicitly excluding the anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta community, according to Israel Hayom. Eligibility was determined by residential address: Israeli police and Ben Gvir's office excluded the streets where Neturei Karta members reside, while most other Beit Shemesh residents became eligible. Ben Gvir said, "Whoever prides himself with the PLO flag and takes photos with terrorists is an enemy, and therefore the neighbourhoods of the extremists have been excluded from eligibility for weapons." Since Ben Gvir took office, about 300,000 Israeli citizens have been granted gun licences, and residents of more than 200 communities are now eligible; the Jerusalem Post reported an increase of 126 additional eligible communities in 2026 alone.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The policy entrenches differential firearms access along ethno-religious and political lines: Palestinian citizens of Israel are systematically excluded from gun licences, while Ben Gvir's reform, according to the Israel Democracy Institute, "primarily serves Israel's Jewish citizens, at times while creating a threat to and endangering those who are not Jewish". The exclusion of Neturei Karta shows how internal dissent is policed through the gun licence regime. Combined with reports of rising settler violence, the expansion risks fuelling further armed confrontations in mixed cities and the occupied West Bank/East Jerusalem, where Ben Gvir announced in March that 300,000 Jewish residents, including those in occupied East Jerusalem, would be eligible to carry firearms.

Watch For

Monitor whether Ben Gvir follows through on his vow to expand weapons eligibility to additional cities, towns, and neighbourhoods, including possible new exclusions based on political or religious affiliation. Watch for legal challenges or Knesset scrutiny of the address-based licensing criteria, and for updated UN OCHA data on settler attacks and armed civilian incidents. Also track reactions from Neturei Karta, Palestinian citizens of Israel, and Israeli civil rights groups to any further gun reform announcements.