Israel Police arrest four in Ben-Gvir's ministry for firearm license bribery

The National Fraud Investigations Unit, which falls under Lahav 433, has arrested four suspects in its investigation of bribery offenses and irregularities in the issuance of firearm licenses by the National Security Ministry, the Unit announced on Tuesday.

The suspects include a licensing official at the National Security Ministry, as well as three officials who worked to collect firearm license applications and approve them.

Alongside the four arrests, Lahav 433 detained 10 others on suspicion of running a criminal network involving the issuing of licenses to carry weapons to any applicant, even if they did not meet eligibility criteria, in exchange for a financial bribe paid to an employee of the Firearms Licensing Division at the National Security Ministry, Maariv reported.

A police official cited by Maariv said that this was “a significant case that probably piqued the interest of the public, and I am grateful that its details were not leaked. For several weeks, an undercover investigation has been underway after receiving the go-ahead from the government legal adviser, the state attorney, and the head of the  Police Investigations and Intelligence Division. There was reasonable suspicion of illegal activity and serious criminal offenses in the issuance of approvals for weapons licenses within the National Security Ministry, which prompted the investigation.”

According to the same official, Maariv said, the information involved is highly sensitive for two reasons: firstly, because it involves checking personal details of those who were issued licenses to possess weapons; and secondly because an investigation is still ongoing into the ministry, which is in charge of the police. It has also been reported that a petition has been submitted to the High Court asking that the investigation be expedited to prevent data leaks.

“We are investigating the suspicion of bribery offenses, and adjacent to this is an investigation into the people to whom those licenses were issued, and whether there are any public officials who granted licenses to possess weapons. The investigation crosses both the criminal and regulatory spheres,” added the official.

“The investigation made public today is part of the bribery case.... Among the suspects is an employee of the National Security Ministry and members of a network who offered weapons licenses even in cases where the applicant did not meet the criteria. Ten others are being investigated for fraud, having located applicants and transferred them to the network, as well as transferring money to middlemen and through them to the arrested licensing official.

“We are talking about hundreds of people paying an official in exchange for a weapons license and we will track all of them down as part of the investigation to find out if they knew it was a bribery transaction or if they thought it was payment for a service they allegedly received. We estimate that each applicant paid thousands of shekels.

“It is suspected that the licensing official is a relative of the other members of the network due to closeness of residence.” According to the senior ministry official, the licensing official, while properly authorized, is young and does not understand the significance of trust within the National Security Ministry. “At least the bribery case did not reach the minister’s office,” the official added, referring to MK Itamar Ben-Gvir.

“As part of this investigation, we are also examining the regulatory field, and those who have been following it know that officials from the ministry, including senior ones, have come to us for questioning, some under caution.

“The investigation on this matter is still ongoing. At this stage, I completely rule out any connection between the case of suspected bribery and the regulatory issues, and as evidence, we received information from within the ministry regarding suspicions about conduct on social networks concerning the issuance of licenses.”

“The wave of license issuance began in March 2023 following a wave of terrorist attacks, but this intensified after October 7. For every individual who came up in the investigation as having received a weapon against the criteria, we contacted the ministry and collected the weapon from them while maintaining the undercover nature of the investigation.”

National Security Ministry responds

In response to the investigation, the National Security Ministry issued a statement on Tuesday morning, saying that they “congratulated the police officers and investigators of Lahav 433 for the arrest this morning of a number of suspects on charges of illegally issuing weapons licenses, through bribes to people who were not eligible according to the criteria.”

“It is good that the suspect is a junior official out of hundreds of employees in the National Security Ministry. The employees of the firearms division in the ministry are doing sacred work for the safety of the citizens of Israel, and have issued over 150,000 firearms licenses to those who are eligible, while working around the clock. We will continue, as part of the reform that the ministry is leading, to give as many citizens as possible gun licenses.”

Other MKs

MK Merav Michaeli commented on the news in a post on X, saying that she was not surprised by the revelations.

מופתעים? גם אנחנו לא. בדיוק מהסיבה הזו עתרנו נגד השר בן גביר והמשרד לביטחון לאומי כנגד חלוקת הנשק הלא חוקית הזו. ביטחון על מלא, עאלק. זאת ממשלת שחיתות על מלא. וספוילר, זה רק קצה הקרחון. pic.twitter.com/8sK8EzH9Dc

— Merav Michaeli מרב מיכאלי (@MeravMichaeli) July 30, 2024

“It is precisely for this reason that we petitioned Minister Ben-Gvir and the National Security Ministry against illegal arms distribution. This is a government of complete corruption. And spoiler alert, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”