Activists and politicians from across the religious spectrum have denounced Saturday night's murderous shooting at a center for members of the homosexual community in Tel Aviv. Two people were killed in the attack and ten remain hospitalized, some with life-threatening wounds.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the killer would be found and brought to justice. “I want to take this opportunity to remind all citizens of Israel that we are a democratic state, a tolerant state, a state ruled by law, and we must respect every person,” he said.
Vice Premier Silvan Shalom said the shooting “can only be called a terrorist attack,” while Minister Avishai Braverman called to “condemn this hatred and violence... We must accept those who are different from ourselves.”
Ministers from the Jewish Home party and the Sephardic religious Shas party were among those to denounce the attack. “Murder is murder. Even if someone does not agree with their way of life, there is no excuse for taking a life,” said Minister Daniel Hershkowitz.
Reactions to the attack pitted prominent homosexual community activists in Tel Aviv against Shas; at an impromptu rally Saturday night, activists accused the party, and MK Nissim Zeev in particular, of inciting violence against homosexuals. “Their blood is on your hands,” several said.
Shas MKs are open in their belief that homosexuality is forbidden by the Torah, and at least one has been accused of implying that homosexuals bring disaster on the entire Jewish people.
Zeev called the attack “horrifying,” and said, “I am totally against this, and the murderer should be caught and punished to the full extent of the law.” He also rejected attempts to link the attack to his views on homosexuality or to those of the Shas party, and questioned whether the attack was truly motivated by the victims' sexual tendencies, saying, “The shooter could have just been a drunk or crazy person... It could have been a terrorist who came to murder Jews.”
Manhunt Continues
The hunt for the shooter continued on Sunday morning. A police spokesan would not confirm or deny that the Shin Bet (Shabak) is involved in the investigation, and would say only that “the investigation is continuing on all levels.”
The Shin Bet is responsible primarily for investigating terrorist threats and Israeli extremist groups.
Witnesses reported that the shooter was a man dressed entirely in black, with his face covered by black cloth. He sprayed fire from an automatic weapon and then fled the area, having apparently prepared an escape route ahead of time.
While the killer's motives are not yet clear, members of Tel Aviv's homosexual community expressed certainty that his target was not selected at random. The center at which the attack took place served primarily teenagers, they said, many of whom have not yet revealed their sexual orientation to their families. Due to the sensitive nature of its work, the center was discreet, and only someone familiar with the location could have carried out the attack, they said.