Petach Tikva Mayor Yitzchak Ohayon announced Monday that private schools in the city would no longer receive state funding without accepting students who immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia.  Several schools in the city receive public funds for some of their activities while limiting admission based on school criteria.

The new policy was announced shortly after a local school, LaMerchav, was accused of racism when reporters discovered that four 10-year-old Ethiopian-Israeli students had been separated from the rest of the students and taught in a private classroom.  School administrators argued that the girls were illiterate, and needed a year of separate tutoring in order to catch up with their peers.