Olmert: Israel must learn tolerance

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed on Saturday evening his satisfaction with the calm outcome of the controversial gay pride events in Jerusalem. “Israeli society must learn to accept people’s right to express themselves with tolerance and naturalness,” Olmert said. “I hope it will be so in the future as well.”

Simultaneously, Olmert harshly condemned theincidents of violence over the past week involving activists on both sides of the issue.

The gay pride events took place on Friday at the Givat Ram campus stadium in the capital, as an enclosed rally. Almost 10,000 people took part in the festivities – including the prime minister’s own daughter Dana Olmert – following weeks of public turmoil over the event.

Originally, the event was supposed to entail a festive parade concluding in a rally, but in light of the sensitive security situation and non-stop threats from the ultra-Orthodox sector to attack marchers, the organizers decided to make do with an enclosed even at the university stadium.

Pride event Friday (Photo: Gil Yochanan)

Last week, however, Olmert’s words took a slightly different tone. In an interview on Channel 2, the prime minister said of the violence riots in the Orthodox sector that “there is no doubt the manner in which the march was presented by its organizers was an attempt to provoke. Even the organizers say so. On the other hand, democracy provides the right to provoke as well. The ultra-Orthodox also have the right to oppose the matter as they do.”

The interviewer reminded Olmert of the wording of anti-parade posters which threatened the Jerusalem police chief using Nazi references. “I’m not talking about the wording of the posters,” Olmert responded.

“I’m talking about their right to oppose – it’s legitimate to the same degree. If the police said they could secure the parade, it should go ahead. If they say they can’t secure it, their professional opinion must be respected.”