Israel Disarmed by Mark W. Smith | Book Review

Israel Disarmed by Mark Smith. Highly recommended read by AmmoLand

Mark Smith has written a thoughtful examination of how disarmament by the State of Israel enabled the most horrific massacre of Jews since World War II. At the 2024 Gun Rights Policy Conference in San Diego, Mark Smith was giving away copies of his latest book, Israel Disarmed: What the October 7 attack teaches Americans about the right to bear arms.

The book exceeded my expectations. Mark is a Constitutional Scholar and a member of the United States Supreme Court bar. I expected a scholarly work and was not disappointed. I was pleasantly surprised to find a page-turning and exciting prologue that kept me on the edge of my chair.

In the prologue, Mark documents the contrast between two Israeli kibbutzim. One kibbutz had no defensive firearms and about 750 residents. The other kibbutz had about 1500 residents and about a dozen men with firearms. Both kibbutzim came under attack by the Hamas Jihadis. In the first kibbutz, 60 residents were killed, 17 were taken as hostages, about 10 percent of the population. In the second kibbutz, the roughly dozen armed defenders held off the Jihadis, killing several and wounding several. Not one resident of the second kibbutz was killed. The detailed examples of armed defenders are graphic, detailed, and riveting.

In the chapters which follow, Mark builds a detailed case of how important the right to bear arms is, how the Israelis became disarmed, and how October 7th changed Israeli philosophy about armed citizens. He explains the importance of the Second Amendment in the United States Bill of Rights, and how it is important today as a protector of liberty as well as for personal safety.

Because of the extreme restrictions on firearms ownership and carry put in place by the Israeli government, only about 1.5% of the Israeli population were allowed to own firearms before October 7, 2024. There are about 6.7 private firearms for each 100 Israelis.  With even this extreme restriction on gun ownership, the organizers of the music festival declared the festival to be a “gun free zone”.

Hamas jihadis attacked the festival, killed over 360, and took at least 40 hostages. The dead included 17 police officers.  It is not clear if the police officers were armed. In a similar attack at the Bataclan Concert in Paris, France, about 100 were killed. Eight police officers who were at the Bataclan off-duty were all unarmed.

Mark explains how the Israelis believed they could count on their large police force and their superb military to protect them. It was and is a mistaken faith. When seconds counted in Israel, the police and military were many hours away. Mark explains how the same problem exists in the United States. Many Americans believe the police will be there to protect them. American police cannot be where they are needed when they are needed. In addition, the police have been under attack and there is a strong movement to defund them. For the first crucial minutes, you will be your own first responder.

Israel Disarmed, highly recommended, $16.99 paperback, $27 Hardcover, $9.99 on Kindle at Amazon.

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.