Israeli Prime Minister visits Tel Aviv LGBT youth center massacre site

TAYCS As police in Israel continue in their efforts to find the shooter in last Saturday’s deadly attack on a Tel Aviv LGBT youth center in which 26-year-old Nir Katz and 17-year-old Liz Trubeshi were killed and fifteen others were injured, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the scene today amidst tight security.

Netanyahu was there to meet with representatives of Tel Aviv’s LGBT community and to view the scene first hand.

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen and Tel Aviv district commander, Major-General Shahar Ayalon, also accompanied the Israeli Prime Minister during his visit to the Youth Center.

During his visit Netanyahu expressed sympathy with the LGBT community and was handed letter by community leaders protesting what they said was dangerous incitement against LGBT’s in Israel by ultra-Orthodox lawmakers and members of Netanyahu’s own government.

In the letter to Netanyahu, Israeli LGBT leaders said, “We, members of the gay-lesbian community experience every day verbal and physical violence in families, schools and work places. More than once has severe incitement been heard from many elements, including Knesset (parliament) members and ministers in your government,” said the letter.

The letter also called the shooting attack, which is widely believed in the Tel Aviv LGBT community to have been a hate crime, the “worst incident” against Israel’s LGBT community since the state was founded in 1948.

Head of Israel’s youth Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Association, Yaniv Weizman said at the end of the meeting, “Things have changed. The prime minister has expressed his support. The prime minister’s message is very clear, a message of support of the community.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanya...

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Weizman added, “We expect a ministerial committee, full equal rights for the community, and that our relationships are not outlawed. Another thing is education, education, education, curbing homophobia, and the third thing is the whole matter of incitement… It can’t be that within the Netanyahu government, there are ministers and Knesset members that speak out against the community. We have asked the prime minister to label this incident as a terror attack. It was a very positive meeting, the prime minister expressed his full support.”

Earlier this week, the Israeli minister for welfare and social services, Issac Herzog, said he was forming an emergency committee to meet the needs of Israel’s LGBT community following a shooting at the center.

In a press statement released on Monday Herzog said, “Saturday night’s shooting of gay teenagers was an attack on our entire society and it demands that we immediately find a way to provide treatment to the entire community.”

Israeli President Shimon Peres also confirmed this morning that he plans to address a rally in support of Israel’s LGBT community that is scheduled for Saturday in Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, the shooter is still at large and Israeli police are still conducting a massive manhunt for the perpetrator of the crime. They are also asking the public for any relevant information to help in their investigation.