Rehovot, Israel – An Israeli man turned over a cache of weapons, accumulated by his grandfather and father over decades, to Israeli authorities. The cache was discovered while the man was refurbishing his parent’s home.

Israel was born in military conquest three millennia ago, rebuilt after Babylonian destruction 2.5 millennia ago, destroyed by the Romans as a nation two millennia ago, and reborn as the homeland of the Jews 100 – 78 years ago. Jews have always “occupied” the land that we call Israel.

War, conquest, and military strife have been part of the nation of Israel throughout its history. Before the Israeli War of Independence in 1948, the Israelis had significant underground resistance forces against British rule, with shifting internal alliances, sometimes cooperating with the British, sometimes actively resisting and sabotaging the British rulers of the land. The ability to have and hide firearms was critical. Toward the end of WWII, the British issued a declaration of the death penalty if a person was found with a firearm.

The article/video from Israeli National News says the weapons were apparently collected by the man’s father and grandfather over a period of years.

This cache, with many WWII-era weapons, was likely started during that era. The owners risked everything to ensure they had weapons to defend against a world full of enemies. Consider the risks taken when the regime might kill you for having firearms. Consider keeping weapons whose presence might put you in prison for decades.  These were serious survivors of intense strife.

It is an interesting collection. Watching the video, this correspondent determined these approximate numbers and video-level identifications:

• 7 SKS rifles
• 2 SMLE  No. 1 MK III Lee-Enfield rifles
• 1 Beretta 38/42 submachine gun, 9mm, wood stock
• 1 Mauser 98K rifle
• 1 Break open shotgun
• 1 CZ .22 bolt gun, similar to 455 series
•  9 AK47/AKM rifles,  1 missing upper receiver
• 18-20 pen guns/ converter barrels?
• 2 Brass knuckles
• 2 German blank guns, semi-auto
• 4 Small revolvers, possible converted starter/blank guns
• 1 Rifle to pistol conversion
• 1 Spanish Destroyer .32 semi-auto pistol
• 2 Lugers  + 1 Luger frame
• 1 Steyr M1912 pistol
• 5 Swedish K sub-machine guns
• 1 Sten sub-machine gun
• 1 Swedish Nagant revolver
• 1 S&W style double action revolver
• 1 Colt style double action revolver
• 2 CZ 27.32 pistols
• 1 Webley  MK IV .38 revolver
• 1 Baby Browning type .25 semi-auto pistol
• 1 or 2 Beretta 92 pistol(s) (One pistol was either a Beretta or a Helwan)
• 1 or 2 Egyptian Helwan 1951 pistol(s)
• 1 Converted flare gun
• 1 FN 1922 .32 pistol
• 2 1911A1  Pistols
• 3 P-38 Pistols
• 3 Mauser C-96 pistols (broomhandle)
• 1 Enfield .38 revolver
• 16-17 grenades (Mills bombs) (detonators separate, but there)
• 30+ pistol magazines
• 24 sub-gun magazines
• 22 AK magazines
• 4 Galil magazines
• 1  30 mm explosive round
• some 12 gauge shotgun rounds
• 6 bayonets

Thousands of rifle and pistol rounds are reported to have been stored with the firearms.

What might the people who gathered this significant collection of weaponry feel or say about the voluntary turnover of these precious weapons to the police?

The father and grandfather are most likely dead. If they were alive, there would not be any need to speculate about who collected and stored this impressive arsenal.

Many of these firearms would be worth thousands of dollars if legally present inside the United States. A Beretta 38/42 sub-machine gun recently sold at auction for $19,550.  It is unknown if any or all of the collection will be destroyed by the Israeli government.

It only takes a generation or two, where weapons are demonized and made illegal by a government and society, for future generations to choose to be disarmed and to trust the government for their security. Israel started as a socialist state. Israel did not include a Second Amendment in their vision of the future. The founders of Israel, in 1948, did not believe an armed society was a positive good.

These firearms would have been highly prized by the Israeli victims of the October 7 massacre on October 7, 2024, where even a few pistols were effective in saving dozens of lives.

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About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.