News Brief09:39 AM

(IsraelNN.com) Parents of students at Lamerchav school in Petach Tikva claim the accusations of "apartheid" policies toward Ethiopian girls are lies propagated by a Meretz representative in the town's municipality. A mother of students at Lamerchav told NFC that "back in the summer months, the [Meretz] faction member said she would try to torpedo the activity of religious schools in the town."

This is hatred of all things sacred which is rearing its head again on Chanukah," said a father of a fifth grade student. "Because Lamerchav is perceived as the bearer of the standard of holiness [degel hakodesh] in the town, they attack us," he explained.

The class for Ethiopian girls was opened by request of the Petach Tikva Municipality and is funded by it, the parents say. That is also why they receive separate transportation, to and from the school: the transportation is funded by the municipality. The claims that the girls have a separate recess are untrue, the parents say. "My girls play with them all of the time," one parent said.