In the delivery room of a Jerusalem hospital, as contractions intensified and the midwife tried to help the woman in labor move into a more comfortable position, the mother felt something strange.
“He told me something was hurting him,” recalled midwife Erga Froman. “Then I realized it was my gun, strapped to a rotating belt, and moved forward, touching it.” After the baby was born, Froman’s co-workers at the hospital took a photo of him wearing a gun next to the newborn. “It’s a picture of contradictions,” she said.
Before Oct. 7, Froman, a mother of five who lives in the Golan Heights in northern Israel, had never considered getting a gun license. He had never fired a gun in his life, opting to perform non-military national service rather than military service in the IDF. The change came swiftly after Hamas’s unprecedented terrorist attack on Israeli communities on October 7, which killed more than 1,200 people and shattered the sense of security that many Israelis had long relied on.
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A civilian emergency team practices shooting in the city of Kiryat Shmona, which is within range of a rocket barrage fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon, March 4, 2024. (Erez Ben Simon/TPS-IL)
“On the evening of October 7, my husband and I realized that because I travel alone on dangerous roads at night for my job – bringing life into the world – I needed protection,” Frohman told Fox News Digital. Is.” “By the next morning, I had submitted my application for a gun license. Now I hope I’ll never need to use it, but I’m prepared if I do.”
For decades, firearm ownership was uncommon in Israel. Although military service ensured that many Israelis were trained with weapons, personal firearms were seen as more of an obligation than a necessity. The strict licensing process discouraged many, and Israelis relied on the state and its defense forces to protect them from terrorist threats, a preference given to Israel’s low crime rate.
Dai Erga Froman decided to obtain a gun license after the Hamas terrorist attacks on 7 October.
But after the Hamas massacre of October 7, many Israelis began to view personal firearms as a necessary protection in a new and more dangerous reality. “Since there were not enough medical teams on October 7, there was not enough security,” Froman said. “Learning from that, today we have a community medical team, and we are also armed to be able to provide first response.”
Erga Froman, a midwife from northern Israel, and her husband decided to get a gun license after the October 7 terrorist attacks.
The Israeli Supreme Court is currently reviewing petitions against nationalist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir alleging that his office issued firearms licenses without proper authority.
In the months following the October 7 attacks, more than 260,000 new gun license applications were submitted – nearly matching the total for the previous two decades. More than 100,000 licenses have already been approved, a tenfold increase from last year.
A woman fires at a range in the Jordan Valley, Israel, on April 10, 2024. (Yov Dudkevich/TPS-IL)
Ayala Mirkin, a mother from Shiloh in Judea and Samaria, widely known as the West Bank, applied for a gun license after her husband, an IDF reserve soldier, was sent to fight in the war in Gaza , leaving her alone with her three people. Small children. “I felt unsafe driving in Arab villages and I knew I had to do something to protect myself,” he said. “The process was much faster than before October 7, but it still took several months due to the flood of applications.”
Mirkin now carries a pistol with her whenever she leaves her settlement, although she remains conflicted. “I don’t want to keep a gun. The day I can give it back will be the happiest of my life. But I have no choice. It’s a tool for survival.”
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For families like the Mirkin’s, firearms have become a part of everyday life. She keeps her gun safely locked in a safe and trains her children to never touch it. “It’s a tool for protection, not for killing,” she insists. “My focus is on saving lives, not taking them.”
Paratrooper veteran and father Oren Gozlan is among those who hesitated before applying for a license. While living on the Israeli side of the Green Line border near the Palestinian town of Tulkarem, Gozlan decided he could no longer avoid arming himself. “There’s still a fear of having a gun at home with kids, but my family’s safety outweighs that,” he says. “October 7 changed everything. It made us realize that we are vulnerable in ways we never imagined.”
Gozlan is nervous about the inadequate oversight in the licensing process. “At the range, I see people who have never held a gun in their life, barely hitting their targets. It’s scary to think that these people are now walking around with firearms.”
Saar Zohar, a reservist from an elite unit, expressed a similar sentiment. For years, Zohar resisted owning a gun, believing it to be unnecessary after his service. But the series of terrorist attacks after October 7 prompted him to reconsider. “I couldn’t imagine being helpless if something happened,” he says. “Knowing that I have the training and can respond, I feel like it’s my responsibility.”
After the October 7 massacre, Sa’ar Zohar, a reservist in an elite unit of the IDF, decided to get a gun license. (Fox News)
Unlike the United States, where gun ownership is often associated with fear of crime or protecting private property, in Israel firearms are seen as a tool to counter terrorism. Historically, Israel has avoided the public mass shootings that have sometimes troubled the US, but experts warn that the rapid proliferation of firearms could change that. With so many untrained individuals in possession of weapons, there remains a risk of impulsive actions and tragic mistakes.
The Zohar suffers from the possibility of mistaken identity. “The idea that another armed civilian might mistake me for an attacker terrifies me,” he says, referring to a tragic incident in November 2023, when an Israeli civilian shooting at terrorists in Jerusalem was mistakenly shot by a young The soldier killed.”
The psychological impact of this change on those newly armed people is obvious. Eyal Haskel, a father of three from Tel Aviv, describes the social pressures he faced after October 7. “I never wanted to own a gun, but my friends questioned why I wasn’t armed. It felt like an expectation, almost a duty.”
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Israelis train at a firing range on February 12, 2023. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images)
But Haskell is also troubled by what he saw at the shooting range. “People treat it like a game, shooting without any sense of responsibility. It’s scary to think that these people are now licensed.”
For many Israelis, reform represents a necessary response to an existential threat. Yet, it has also exposed deep flaws in the system. Critics argue that the current approach sacrifices long-term security for short-term security, warning of potential unintended consequences ranging from accidental shootings to an increase in domestic violence.
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“Getting a gun license is easier than getting a driver’s license,” says Gozlan. “For a car, you need lessons, testing, and strict rules. For a gun, it’s just some paperwork and a few hours at the range.”
Froman sees things differently. “If someone threatens you, you can only take out your weapon in a national security situation. Unless it’s a case of terrorists, you don’t take out a gun for situations that threaten personal life. Here’s the rule. Obviously you have to have a safe for yourself. I can’t trust my husband with a gun. The rules are very strict about not harming him. For self-defense.”
An Israeli soldier patrols near Kibbutz Biri in southern Israel on October 12, 2023, close to the site where terrorists killed 270 revelers during the Supernova music festival on October 7. (Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images)
Mirkin agrees. “We’re not like America,” he said. “We don’t want guns as a hobby…for us it’s a matter of survival, not a choice.”
One interviewee, speaking on condition of anonymity, described how he trained his wife in basic gun handling, even though she did not have a license. “I never wanted to put her in this position, but if I’m not home during an attack, she needs to know how to protect our children.”
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As Israel adjusts to this new reality, the social impacts of increased firearm ownership remain uncertain. For many, the importance of these decisions highlights the delicate balance between safety and responsibility.
“I hope I never have to use it,” says Gozlan. “But I can’t ignore the reality we live in. October 7 changed everything.”
