Gun Licensing Process To Be Sped Up For Former Ultra-Orthodox IDF Soldiers

Earlier this week, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced the initiation of a process that will speed up the distribution of weapon carrying permits for ex-IDF soldiers from the Nahal Haredi unit, a unit in the IDF that is geared for ultra-Orthodox soldiers. The decision was made in light of the significant percentage of terror attacks that have occurred in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.

“This initiative will provide a solution to the existing lack of weapons in Haredi population centers,” said Minister Erdan. “Civilians who are skilled in operating weaponry are a force multiplier in our struggle against terror. Therefore, I have acted to ease the restriction for weapons carrying  for the Haredi public as well, the public which is the main target of the heinous murderers.”

The Nahal Haredi Foundation will help in the process by comprising a list of ex-IDF soldiers from the Nahal Haredi unit, who live in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and seek to carry weapons. “With our help, it will be a little easier and faster for our alumni to get the approval,” said Yonatan Branski, Director General of the Nahal Haredi Foundation to TPS.

Branski pointed to the necessity of the foundation’s role in speeding up the approval process. “While regular people can apply for a license to carry a gun, the problem is that it is more difficult here to get approval than in a country like the US where just about everyone can go and buy a gun,” noted Branski to TPS.

Moreover, the need to quicken the approval process for ex-Nahal Haredi soldiers is in part due to the fact that gun ownership among the ultra-Orthodox community is uncommon.

“Our purpose in this process is to make it easier and faster for ex-Nahal Haredi soldiers to be approved for gun ownership because we understood that the biggest problem of vulnerability exists in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods where there aren’t a lot people who carry weapons,” Branski explained to TPS.

“In the past few months, since the increase in terror attacks, many of the victims have been people in police and military uniform and ultra-Orthodox Jews,” Branski continued. “We thought it would make things a little bit better and safer if more ex-combat soldiers would be carrying weapons, and that way it would be safer on the streets.”