News: August 13, 2009

Netanyahu calls attack against gays ‘terrorism’

The attack on a gay youth club in Tel Aviv was terrorism, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. He visited the scene of the Aug. 1 shooting attack by a masked gunman, in  which Nir Katz, 26, and Liz Troboushi, 17, were killed. Four others remain in hospital, two in intensive care. A written statement from the prime minister’s office said, “[The prime minister] said that the fact that somebody entered a youth centre and perpetrated a serial murder qualified the events as a terrorist attack. Prime Minister Netanyahu acknowledged that the gay community has special needs and expressed his desire to promise openness and sensitivity.” Israeli police remain unsure whether the murders constitute a hate crime. “There is no clear evidence at this stage indicating that this was a hate crime,” said a source involved in the investigation last week. Among the possibilities investigators are considering is that the crime was motivated by a personal dispute rather than antipathy toward gays. The police have called on Israelis not to blame any sector of the public for the crime, which shocked the nation.

Fifth swine flu death

Israel, which suffered its fifth swine flu death last week, plans to offer a vaccine for the disease to the public by January 2010. Close to 2,000 people have been diagnosed with the flu, and it’s believed as many as 20,000 Israelis have been infected with the H1N1 virus.

U.S. plan in works: Barak

U.S. President Barack Obama will soon unveil a new Mideast peace initiative, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said. Speaking to the Knesset foreign affairs and defence committee, Barak said the initiative’s details were still in the works. “We’re in talks with them and the other regional players, including the Palestinians, are also in talks with them,” Barak said, referring to negotiations with the United States. “When the initiative is formulated and presented, I think we should treat it seriously and see it as an opportunity to jump aboard while upholding Israel’s defence and other vital interests.”

Ruling ends segregation

A school in Emmanuel has been ordered to cease segregating Sephardi and Ashkenazi students. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the Beit Ya’akov girls school’s practice of holding separate classes for students based on their ethnic origin was unlawful. “The right to sectarian education is not absolute, especially when it clashes with the right to equality,” justices Edna Arbel, Edmond Levy and Hanan Meltzer wrote in their ruling. The judges threatened to close the school unless it complies with their ruling.
– with files from JTA