From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
Israelis watch fallout of Texas shooting with sadness, confusion
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAs Americans mourn the victims of another mass shooting, Israeli networks are closely covering the aftermath of the deadly shooting attack at a Texas elementary school and barely disguising their bewilderment at the lack of gun reform in the US.
“It’s incomprehensible what’s happening there, the flags are lowered to half mast for three days, and again you hear the outraged voices asking how can it be that this happens again and again, nothing is done, or maybe there’s nothing to be done, and they need to live with it, because of this law that allows this to happen. Will anything change?” asks Channel 12 anchor Ofer Haddad.
“Try, beg, America is in shock and nothing changes,” he adds, after the channel screens videos that have gone viral of Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy and Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr making impassioned pleas for gun control.
“The US is shaken by the massacre, but gun laws are not expected to change: ‘How many more must die,'” reads the top headline on the popular Ynet news website.
A number of journalists point out the ease at which “someone can walk into Wal-Mart and buy a gun,” as noted by Channel 12’s Yona Leibzon.
“In Texas, you can’t drink at 18 and can’t drive at 18, but you can buy a gun,” Channel 13’s Yosef Yisrael notes. (In reality, you can drive in Texas at 16.)
“If they want to pass gun reform, they will have a majority in the House but it will fall in the Senate,” Hebrew University expert Jonathan Freeman tells Army Radio.
And on social media, as has happens every time there is a mass shooting in the US, some are contrasting Israel’s gun laws with those of the US.
1/ As an American in Israel. I cannot tell you how true this is.
Israelis- left & right- don’t understand the obsession with unrestricted gun ownership & are horrified/baffled by the unwillingness of US lawmakers to take steps needed to protect their children from gun violence https://t.co/yCnpif7lCn
— Yoni Brander (@yonibrander) May 25, 2022
The Times of Israel Community.