IDF reservists reported that they were asked to deposit the long weapons they were carrying when they visited the Israel Museum with their families.
The museum explained to Arutz Sheva-Israel National News that it restricts visitors from bringing long weapons into the museum due to international museum standards and agreements with museums around the world.
M., one of the reservists, visited the museum during a break from reserve duty. “After 400 days of reserve duty, I got a short leave and went with my family to the Israel Museum. At the entrance, I was told that I could not enter with my weapon and that I had to deposit it. They told me, ‘This is according to the rules of museums around the world,’" he said.
D., another reservist who visited the museum with his family, said he was given a different explanation. “I was told that it was not appropriate to walk around the museum with a long weapon because it creates an uncomfortable atmosphere," he said. “What can we do? We don’t live in Switzerland, and there has been a war in this country for the past three years."
Officials at the Israel Museum told Arutz Sheva-Israel National News that the policy regarding long weapons is based on “international museum standards and agreements between us and other museums around the world that lend us works of art. These agreements include restrictions on long weapons."
They added that another consideration is the need to protect the security of the museum’s exhibits.
However, the museum clarified that the restriction does not apply in the same way to short weapons. Visitors may enter with a handgun, provided they present identification.
The museum also emphasized its activities on behalf of soldiers and victims of the war. Officials said that many IDF units have visited the museum over the past three years, and that the museum offers free admission to reservists, combat stress survivors, wounded veterans, and bereaved families.
The museum added that it “will continue to host IDF soldiers with love."