Guards pick up weapons after article hits target

The guards at Hod Hasharon's Azrieli shopping mall have recently begun carrying weapons after a local newspaper revealed that they were unarmed.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
The guards at Hod Hasharon's Azrieli shopping mall have recently begun carrying weapons after a local newspaper revealed that they were unarmed, reports www.mynet.co.il. Mall management apparently decided to arm the guards after the revelation, despite initially saying there was no legal requirement for them to carry weapons. According to the report, local residents complained to the local Hebrew weekly Yediot Hasharon that the guards were unarmed, and the newspaper ran an article about the issue. Mall management responded that there was no legal requirement to place armed guards at the entrance to the mall, and that there were armed guards and other licensed weapons holders inside the mall in even greater numbers than legally required. "There is no obligation to place the armed guards at the entrance to the mall," a spokeswoman said. But Kfar Saba district police chief Rami Raz said this was not true, and the law did require that armed guards be placed at mall entrances. He said police had previously asked the Hod Hasharon mall's managers to abide by the law but they had not acted. But in late September, following the newspaper article, the guards began carrying weapons.