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Health Eligibility for Licensed Firearms Possession

Dr. Rinat Yoffe, Director of Planning and Control, Information Division, Ministry of Health;  Dr. Sergey Raskin, Director of the Forensic Psychiatry Department, Mental Health Division, Ministry of Health
3 February 2026

The process of granting licenses to carry firearms in Israel is arranged under the Firearm Law 1949 and managed by the Ministry of National Security while consulting with other parties.  

One of the bodies on whose recommendations the Ministry of National Security relies in granting these licenses is the Ministry of Health, which plays an important role in reviewing the physical and mental health of applicants.  

This process includes reviewing information from “Healthcare Practitioner’s Notice" (a report submitted to the Ministry of Health by healthcare professionals when they believe that a person under their care may be dangerous to themselves or others if they carry a weapon), psychiatric hospitalizations, and health declarations.  

In addition, during the eligibility test, a Ministry of Health physician who identifies risks and who reviews the medical file, or licensing officials from the Ministry of National Security, may ask the applicant to complete missing documents or request a physical examination by an “examining physician”" (physicians who specialize in a specific field) from the Ministry of Health.  

The process aims to ensure that only individuals who are medically eligible are authorized to bear weapons while protecting public safety and individual rights. 

The eligibility status may be: 

  • For a period of 3 years. 
  • Temporary (for a period of one year). 
  • Rejected. 

In the case of temporary eligibility, the applicant must issue updated documents at the end of the year. If the application is rejected, there is an appeals process. 

Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in the number of Israeli civilians who submitted applications to possess weapons (firearms). According to Ministry of National Security data, 2023 saw a tenfold increase in applications in comparison with 2021. As a result of this dramatic increase in the number of applications, the number of files sent for medical consultation with the Ministry of Health physicians has risen by hundreds of percentages. 

Number of applications submitted to possess firearms

  • 31,700
    applications in 2021
  • 51,436
    applications in 2022
  • 293,780
    applications in 2023
  • 126,000
    applications in 2024

he law that regulates possession of firearms in Israel is the Firearms Law -1949. Among the subjects included in the law: 

  • Responsibility and authority of the Ministry of National Security for approval of firearm license. 
  • List of parties authorized to recommend illegibility to possess firearms. 
  • List of restrictions on granting firearm license or cancellation of an existing license.  
  • Information on the method for obtaining a license, education and training.   

The article below discusses the entire subject of health eligibility for obtaining a license to possess firearms and will explain the Ministry of Health’s role in issuing medical recommendations regarding this eligibility. 

Issuing a license for firearms 

Responsibility for a firearms license is that of The Ministry of National Security, which is based on the recommendations of several parties: 

  • Israel police: to confirm that the individual has no criminal record that prevents him from obtaining a license. 
  • Ministry of Health: To confirm that the individual has no health impediment (mental and physical) that prevents him from obtaining a license and that no “Practitioner’s Notice” was received for said individual in accordance with the Firearms Law (according to Section 11 of the Firearms Law, all healthcare professionals must inform the Ministry of Health of a patient who may be a danger to himself or to others if they possess a firearm). The Ministry of health will send a recommendation to the Ministry of National Security regarding the eligibility status of the firearm license applicant based on information available to it (see details below). 
  • Psychological centers: relevant for individuals applying for an organizational firearms license to perform his 
  •  job. Upon submitting the application, the applicant must undergo psychological evaluations. Applicants who fail the evaluations cannot receive a license.  
  • The Ministry of Welfare and Social Services: To ensure that the license applicant is not in a situation of event that is known to Social Services (such as domestic violence) that prevents their eligibility. 

 

 

Additional emphases

Additional emphases

  • Not every issue related to clinical eligibility to possess weapons is necessarily related to the Ministry of Health. Performance of psychological evaluations for bearers of organizational arms, for example, is the full responsibility of the Ministry of National Security (Section 11b1). 
  • Every application for a license is valid for 3 years and must be renewed in teh same process with the Ministry of National Security. 
  • There are medical circumstances in which the Ministry of Health issued a recommendation for temporary eligibility for one year. 

Eligibility status

According to the provisions of the Firearms Law, the role of the Ministry of Health in the process is: 

  • Receive and compile the “Healthcare Practitioner’s Notices” (Section 11a of the Law): these are notices that healthcare practitioners issue to the Ministry of Health when they believe that a person who is under treatment may pose a danger to himself or to others if they possess a weapon. “Healthcare Practitioner’s Notice” is sent to Planning and Control Department and to the Information Division, and is entered in a dedicated system in the National Psychiatry Database. “Healthcare Practitioner’s Notice”  may be sent by any physician (not necessarily a psychiatrist), psychologist, mental health officer or social worker employed in the field of mental health only. Once the “Healthcare Practitioner’s Notice” has been entered in the database, in other words, the notice of potential danger of the patient, the status is switched to ‘ineligible to possess a firearm. 
  • Providing a response with regards to psychiatric hospitalization (Section 11b of the Law): with regards to an application for a firearm, a licensing official from the Ministry of National Security contacts, through the computer interface, the Ministry of Health to obtain information about the eligibility or ineligibility of the applicant (without obtaining any clinical or other information other than the eligibility status). The eligibility status is derived from the information available to the Ministry of Health with regards to psychiatric hospitalizations, involuntary clinic therapy or ‘Healthcare Practitioner’s Notice”. If due to any of them the status received is “ineligible" - the firearms license application is rejected. An appeal of this decision can be submitted through the Ministry of National Security.  Important to know: The applicant’s last eligibility status supersedes any previous status.  

The language of the law pertaining to the decision regarding the eligibility status in light of mental health reasons 

As specified in Section 11B of the Firearms Law: If the Director of the Ministry of Health finds that a license applicant or a person for whom details were provided as specified in Subsection (a) has been hospitalized due to mental illness or a suspected mental illness, he may notify the licensing officer or the body listed in Section 5B(a) as specified in Subsection (a) of details of the hospitalization; If the Director of the Ministry of Health finds that a license applicant or a person for whom details were provided as specified in Subsection (a) was notified under Section 11A, he shall notify the licensing officer or the body listed in Section 5B(a) as specified in Subsection (a).) 

Completion of the health declaration  

When submitting an application to the Ministry of National Security for a license to carry firearms, applicants must complete a health declaration that contains a self-declaration and a declaration from a family physician on behalf of the HMO. This declaration includes, inter alia, diagnoses and prescriptions issued for medication.

Even if the applicant's eligibility status is normal at the time of the initial review of the databases, if the health declaration indicates that there is a health condition - physical, mental or both, that may pose a risk in carrying a weapon, the licensing officials will forward the file to the Ministry of Health for a medical consultation and for a review of the declaration and accompanying documents. For the Ministry of Health to be able to review the application, make sure to attach all of the necessary documents. Incomplete applications will be returned to the Ministry of National security to complete the documentation, likely resulting in a delay in the decision.  

Upon completion of the medical consultations, based on the health declaration, the following decisions may be made:  

  • 1
    Regular eligibility

    for a period of 3 years (regular). 

  • 2
    Temporary eligibility

    Eligibility for a period of one year only is given when there is a medical problem that is defined as under control, being treated and monitored. In this situation, the applicant is responsible for undergoing a medical follow-up and to issue updated documents to the licensing official at the end of the year or at the instruction of the Ministry of Health physician. Submission of medical documents is the responsibility of the applicant, who must submit them to the Ministry of National Security. We recommend sending the documents approximately two months before the end of the eligibility period and confirming with the Ministry of National Security that the documents were received. If the required documents are not received by the Ministry of Health by the specified date, the status “eligible for one year" will automatically change in the computer systems to “ineligible", while updating and notifying the Ministry of National Security, which will act on the demand to "deposit weapons" due to the revocation of the license.  

  • 3
    Rejection

    When a decision was made to not approve the applicant’s license to bear weapons due to ineligibility. This decision may be appealed (additional information is in the paragraph below - the appeals process). 

  • 4
    Request to supplement documents

    meaning documents such as an expert opinion or additional tests. Documents that are valid up to one year from the date of the examination may be submitted.   

  • 5
    Referral to an examination of a " examining physician”

    referral to specialist physicians in the area being tested (neurology, necrology, orthopedics, psychiatry), who are appointed by the Director General of the Ministry of Health and who satisfy the requirements for training, seniority, and clinical experience. Referral for examination by an “examining physician" is the responsibility of the Ministry of National Security, meaning that firearms licensing officials of the Ministry of National Security may make a decision to issue a referral for an evaluation, or respond to a request from a doctor to locate a dangerous person on behalf of the Ministry of Health who had difficulty giving a recommendation based on documents without the applicant's presence. The evaluation involves payment that must be made by the applicant of the license. 

The appeals process 

Applicants who are rejected from carrying weapons due to a physical or mental health condition may appeal to the Ministry of National Security and request an appeal before Ministry of Health physicians who are appointed to identify risks. As part of the appeal, the specialist physician from the Ministry of Health appointed to review the case can make any of the decisions specified in the previous section (eligibility, temporary eligibility, rejection, request to supplement documents, or a review by an examining physician).  

If necessary, the specialist physician may request a consultation as part of the Internal Exceptions Committee that includes 3 physicians, and the Director of Planning and Control in the Ministry of Health. This committee may accept each of the decisions specified above. 

At the end of the appeal process, the decisions of the specialist physicians or the Ministry of Health committee are updated and forwarded to the Firearms Licensing Division in the Ministry of National Security. If, after the initial appeal process, it was decided to leave the rejection in place, it will be possible to file another appeal only after a year, and provided that there has been a positive change in the applicant's state of health.