VIOLENCE SPURS ISRAELI MOM TO ARM HERSELF
Aviva Yisraeli, right, carries a gun while commuting from the West Bank to Jerusalem, saying she refuses to be a “sitting duck.” Violence in the Middle East erupted last month, fueled by rumors that Israel was plotting to take over a site holy to Muslims and Jews. The clashes have left five Israelis and at least 26 Palestinians dead. On Monday, Palestinians carried out three stabbings in Jerusalem, leaving one Israeli teen in critical condition. The random nature of the stabbings has rattled Israel.
AVIV, As violent
TEL I SRAEL clashes erupted throughout Israel and Palestinian territories, Aviva Yisraeli decided to carry a handgun while commuting from her home in the West Bank settlement of Tekoa to a weekly course in Jerusalem. “I feel that it’s important for us to do everything in our power to protect ourselves,” said the mother of four, adding that she refuses to be a “sitting duck.”
After she posted a Facebook photo showing a BUL Cherokee — an Israeli version of a Glock — in her lap as she drove, Yisraeli, earned the nickname “Glocker mom.” Unlike many of her neighbors, Yisraeli and her husband have not fortified their cars against stones and bullets, preferring to maintain a sense of normalcy. “If we continue to barricade ourselves, you can never take care of the problem,” she said.
Settlers like Yisraeli aren’t counting on Israeli security forces to protect them from attacks that have escalated since Oct. 1, when Palestinian gunmen ambushed a couple in their car near a West Bank settlement and shot them dead at point-blank range in front of their four children sitting in the back seat. The deadly tit-for-tat confrontations have so far claimed the lives of at least five Israelis and 26 Palestinians, including three killed Monday.
The Israeli government announced new policies to contain Arab violence, including relaxed rules for security forces to open fire and a four-year minimum jail sentence for gasoline-bombers and rock throwers.
But Yisraeli and neighbors said tougher security measures have done little to deter Palestinian assailants. They cite an incident last week, when 20 Palestinian men approached a woman driving in a car, smashed her windows and attempted to force her out. The army arrived 20 minutes later — after residents had scared the assailants away.
“The Arabs have absolutely no fear from our army ... but when I started carrying our gun, I realized that they do have fear from the civilian response,” she said. “As they say, it’s better to visit you in jail than at the graveyard.”
Israelis do not have a constitutional right to bear arms like Americans, yet guns are ubiquitous here because there are so many soldiers, reservists, police and security guards who take their guns with them when they’re off duty and out in public. They are holstered in clear sight on buses and in coffee shops.
Most 18-year-old Israelis are required to serve in the army, which provides weapons training. Civilians must meet a long list of requirements to get a gun permit, such as living close to the Palestinian territories, as well as proof that they have no criminal record or history of mental disturbance.
There are no figures on how many Israeli families living in the West Bank have gun licenses, but Shani Simkowitz, a resident of Tekoa for 35 years, says her neighbors have long considered guns and other means of self-defense essential to their existence there.
“In the past three weeks, everyone has realized that if you have a gun, you take one, you make sure that when you travel the doors are locked,” she said. “You can’t have the army here wall-to-wall soldiers.”
Lax enforcement and vigilantism have been common in West Bank settlements for years, according to a 2013 report published by the Israeli state comptroller. As the tensions have risen throughout the country in recent weeks, Palestinian media are reporting a surge in settler violence directed against Palestinians.
Anxieties in the response to the spate of random attacks by Palestinians have prompted a spike in registrations for self-defense courses and requests for information about gun license applications, according to the Public Security Ministry.
Itzik Mizrahi, owner of the Magnus 2525 gun shop in Jerusalem, said that in recent weeks, he has seen a 70% increase in all types of self-defense items, including handguns and electric shockers. Similarly, Ricochet, a hiking equipment chain store, reported that a number of its branches have run out of their stock of pepper spray, with 75% of the demand coming from Jerusalem, according to the store’s CEO, David Mentin.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has urged Jewish residents with licenses to carry their guns on city streets. As the Israeli homefront becomes a new battlefront, “terror attacks can be prevented with the quick response of responsible citizens,” said Barkat, a licensed and trained gun owner who prevented an attack in February by tackling a knife-wielding Palestinian.
Israelis’ aggressive responses to Palestinian assailants have led to criticism from human rights groups, such as the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, that they are using excessive force.
Yet for the majority of Israelis, the current security strategy is not aggressive enough. A Channel 2 News poll broadcast last Saturday found that a majority of Israelis are dissatisfied with how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is handling the security situation.