A report by the Israeli paper Calcalist described how Israel's war industries have been entirely enlisted for the sake of the war effort and civilian defense against terrorists.
Over 190,000 civilian gun license requests have been submitted since the beginning of the war alone, over four times that of the number of requests for the entire year of 2022 - 42,000. Furthermore, 31,000 licenses have been issued so far, with the total number in all of 2022 being a little over a third that number - 13,000.
Some in the media are expressing real concern with the rushed and haphazard manner in which licenses are being handed out, as well as the deficient training being provided to those seeking to qualify to own a firearm. One report in the Israeli paper The Marker noted how people who couldn't hit the target even once nevertheless passed the range test.
Enlisted in the War Effort, But Hoping to Cash In Afterwards
In addition to these requests for personal pistols, sights, long and short rifles and all sorts of other weapons are being made en masse in the face of massive demand from security forces and security response teams, despite many workers in Israel's weapons industries serving in the reserves themselves.
This wave has also created a backlog of orders from abroad and taken the Israeli weapons industry out of the running for many exports contracts. However, at least some in the industry are confident that IDF experience in fighting in Gaza and the world's attention on the army's performance will ensure lucrative contracts once domestic demand starts to ebb.