Israel: Ben-Gvir’s staff issued weapons licences unlawfully, report claims

Israel’s Be’er Sheva Magistrate’s Court has ordered the National Security Ministry to provide information about the distribution of gun licences by employees in far-right Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s office as part of an investigation by Israel Police’s National Fraud Investigation Unit, Haaretz newspaper reported yesterday.

The order stipulates that investigators be provided documents and recordings, including telephone transcripts, concerning the distribution of firearms.

Haaretz quoted several sources as saying that the investigation began recently, even though the government’s judicial adviser, Gali Baharav Miara, approved opening the investigation in March.

The paper quoted senior police officers as saying that the Investigations Unit had postponed the probe out of concern that it would lead to suspicions against Ben-Gvir himself which would harm the unit’s investigators and officers.

One officer said: “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.”

Haaretz revealed details of the case in November, and named two of Ben-Gvir’s employees including his adviser, David Bavli, and his secretary, Nili Kadosh, noting that the latter had received the permission to carry firearms despite not meeting the requirements, from a police officer who was later promoted.

It added that media figures and those close to Ben-Gvir’s office and his party were among those who obtained weapons licences.

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