Why do Israelis carry guns with them?

A waitress taking an order at a Tel-Aviv cafe.

In Israel, it’s not allowed to leave personal weapons (or weapons for which you are responsible) unattended.

Either you carry it with you or store it in a safe.

The safe is good for a pistol. And where does a soldier put her machine gun when she comes home for the weekend, bringing the machine gun with her? Put it in a safe she doesn’t have at home? Or put it under the bed?

Bride at her wedding.

Israeli boys and girls, who come home for a day or two from the army, bring these “toys” with them, but they are young people: they want to meet with friends, so they walk the streets in civilian clothes, but with weapons.

And some young people on their day off from the army — especially those soldiers who are considered single — living in Israel without parents and relatives (there are many of them: they flew from other countries to serve in the IDF), these young people work part-time — including working as waiters.

That’s why they may be serving customers with a machine gun over the shoulder.

That’s the specificity of the “peaceful” Israeli life.