ISRAEL: Arms amnesty for Israelis

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Wondering what to do with that case of bullets at the bottom of your wardrobe?

Next week, the IDF will launch the 2008 Arms Amnesty, encouraging citizens to return army gear left in their possession. For one month, Israelis will be able to turn in forgotten or purloined surplus anonymously to army bases and police stations throughout the country and be exempt from legal consequences, prosecution and jail.

Although illegal, pilfering military equipment is a long-established Israeli habit. Rummaging around an average household in the country will typically produce miscellaneous gear ranging from uniforms to serious weaponry.

Mandatory service soldiers live in dread of losing equipment they’re assigned, particularly field gear that has a habit of getting misplaced or nicked. Platoons and individuals traditionally raid others’ gear to make up losses. Others just hoard spares to avoid being court martialed and fined later, and some just take liberties with the stuff.

Some of the equipment is practical, some make a fashion statement. And some of it is downright cool -- nifty, sturdy whatnots that always come in handy.

Army-issued flares and smoke grenades were a common sight at soccer games; uniform pants are worn by hikers, plumbers, gas-station attendants and anyone appreciating their deep side-pockets. The dubon, the hooded winter coat, had for decades been the trademark of the grassroots scruffy Israelis before being displaced by fleece; the padded hermonit winter pants are invaluable to night-guards everywhere; nothing holds things together better than parachute chords; and binoculars, night vision gear and compasses are classic favorites.

What do civilians do with actual warfare? Besides endangering their households, usually not much.

Army gear also played a role in decor, when any self-respecting 80s macho had a parachute on his bedroom ceiling and shell cases of assorted sizes for trash cans and ashtrays.

This surplus also causes occasional trouble, and more than one Sinai-bound Israeli has gotten into hot water when security inspections at the border crossing with Egypt spotted stray bullets or rifle magazines forgotten in the trunk of the car.

Any considerable call-up of reserve forces tends to further deplete army inventory too. Complaints that reservists are underequipped or issued substandard gear are not uncommon, and they too often stock-pile their own inventory. There have been at least three massive call-ups of reservists in recent years: operation Defensive Shield (2002), the disengagement from Gaza (2005) and the second Lebanon war (2006).

The army hopes to instill in the public the recognition that pinching military equipment is illegal, financially damaging to the system and ultimately damaging to the army and soldiers themselves -- as well as a potential threat to society, if warfare falls into the wrong hands. Besides, it’s unnecessary. Since the second Lebanon war, the army has been vigorously replenishing inventory and upgrading emergency storage and reservists can return their gear with the knowledge that they will be issued good equipment next time they are called up, say army officers overseeing the campaign.

The last Arms Amnesty was held in 2002, when Israelis had returned 5 million NIS worth of military equipment that included 173 weapons, hundreds of thousands of bullets and thousands of pairs of uniforms. But the biggest surprise came from one citizen who held 1 million NIS worth of army equipment in three underground bunkers throughout the country, where he cached RPGs, mortar shells, thousands of rounds of bullets and two anti aircraft missiles.

And that persistent story about the guy that once returned an APC? Sorry, urban legend.

-- Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusalem