With gunman on run, TA mayor says parents can keep kids home
Police step up security around Tel Aviv schools, but Huldai says there’ll be no punishment for children who stay away
Adiv Sterman is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Security is being tightened at educational institutions and municipal facilities in Tel Aviv on Sunday, following Friday’s shooting attack in the city that killed two people and injured seven more.
But with the gunman still on the run, the mayor said it would be all right for parents to keep their kids at home.
The Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality said security forces will be deployed around schools, kindergartens and crowded areas.
Mayor Ron Huldai said that police were aware of the concerns of parents in the city and were making the utmost effort to step up security measures.
But “if a parent does not feel secure, do not send your child to school tomorrow; we will not come to you with complaints,” Huldai said in an interview with the Ynet news site.
Nonetheless, he added: “Schools, kindergartens and all the municipal services of Tel Aviv-Jaffa will be open tomorrow to the public; that’s how it is and that’s how it should be.”
All school trips scheduled for Sunday are to be held as usual, in accordance with the instructions of the Ministry of Education.
Police on Saturday identified the suspected gunman in Friday’s shooting attack in Tel Aviv as Nashat Milhem, a 29-year-old resident of Arara, a village in Wadi Ara in northern Israel. Security forces have known the identity of the suspect since Friday, but a gag order had prevented him from being named until Saturday evening.
Milhem, an Israeli Arab who was jailed for five years for a 2007 attack on a soldier, is suspected of shooting and killing two people and wounding seven more in Friday’s attack in central Tel Aviv. His brother is in custody as an alleged accomplice.
Security forces were conducting extensive searches for Milhem, as police bolstered its presence on the streets of Tel Aviv and the area.
The two victims of the attack were shot dead in the Simta Bar on Dizengoff Street. One of them, Alon Bakal, was a manager there. The second, 30-year-old Shimon Ruimi from Ofakim, was one of five long-time friends who were celebrating a birthday together.
Judah Ari Gross and Itamar Sharon contributed to this report.
