Northern mayor’s aide arrested for scuffling with education minister’s guards
Adviser to Kiryat Shmona’s Avichai Stern says he wanted to speak to Yoav Kisch about safety risks at schools that require repairs
Police on Sunday morning detained a close adviser to the mayor of Kiryat Shmona after he allegedly scuffled with Education Minister Yoav Kisch’s security detail during the latter’s visit to the northern city.
Pe’er Laredo, an adviser to Mayor Avichai Stern, apparently tried to enter a teachers’ room where Kisch was located and physically confronted guards who blocked him at the door.
Kisch, a Likud politician who publicly opposed Stern’s reelection, had been touring schools in Kiryat Shmona, which reopened Sunday morning for the first time since residents were evacuated from the city when Hezbollah began to attack Israel after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre.
Laredo told Ynet that he wanted to speak to Kisch about safety risks that required fixing in the city’s schools, but that the minister’s guards stopped him when he tried to enter.
“After a year and a half of being evacuated from our homes, I arrived to welcome the children and bring my child back to school. It’s insane that I find myself at the police station,” Laredo told the news outlet. “Minister Kisch came to cut a ribbon and continue with the political spin. He forgot that election season is over.”
Stern, who recently won reelection against his Likud-backed opponent Eli Zafrani in delayed elections, opposed Kisch’s visit and deemed it a cheap PR stunt.
“Sadly, after doing all he could to keep the schools from reopening at the right time and trying to take credit for the vital assistance we received from the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee, the minister of education now asks to come and have his picture taken against the backdrop of the hard work of the Kiryat Shmona municipality and civil society to prepare schools [for reopening],” Stern said.
“It’s a shame that such motivation to visit the city was nowhere to be found for the past year and a half,” he commented.
Kisch’s office claimed that the Education Ministry had been attempting to set up a tour of Kiryat Shmona in cooperation with the municipality but was repeatedly rejected. The statement also accused Stern of “sending thugs to confront the minister, who were arrested by Shin Bet security guards.”
Police said Laredo would be brought to court in Kiryat Shmona later Sunday, where a judge would rule on a request to extend his detention.
Kids of Kiryat Shmona return to school
Of the some 16,000 students who were evacuated during the war with Hezbollah in the north, 63.7 percent returned to school Sunday, according to Ynet.
The site also reported that 83.3% of evacuated teachers have returned to teach in the north.
Hillel Timsit, 6, who was continuing first grade in Kiryat Shmona after starting in Jerusalem, told Ynet he didn’t even know who his new teacher was, but that he was feeling okay.
“I studied at a school [in Jerusalem], but I knew that it wasn’t my school, which I missed a lot. My teacher in Jerusalem said that I am a hero like the pioneers during the birth of the country. I am settling the border. I am the first to come back to the place I love,” he said.
Lihi Kabilo, who is starting the 12th grade, said it would take a lot of strength to resume studies after not being in the city for so long, “but it’s already better at home.”
A ceasefire with Hezbollah went into effect in November, and the government has been working to return the 60,000 evacuated residents to their homes.
However, many face difficulties in returning due to the widespread destruction, with some expected to return after the Purim and Passover holidays and others waiting till next year to come back.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
