Beinish: State responsible for fortifying schools
Supreme Court justice slams State for failure to complete fortification of educational facilities against rockets in south, says 'human lives are in danger'
Beinish also urged the State to present a timetable for a completion of the fortification in educational facilities, saying that "the schools are your responsibility."
On Tuesday, the State Prosecution submitted its response to the appeals. Advocate Raanan Giladi, who wrote the response, stated that "in the government's decision, it was decided that fortification of schools would be based on the principle of creating 'fortified areas' that would allow students to get to a fortified area upon hearing the warning sirens."
"This means that not all classrooms are meant to be classified as fortified structures," he clarified.
According to this classification, classrooms are considered fortified if they possess physical fortification and if they are in close proximity to a classroom that possesses fortification.
"This concept provides an adequate solution to the fortification of schools, in accordance with budget priorities and capabilities," Giladi added.
Chairman of Sderot's parents association, Batia Katar, who is one of the petitioners against the State, was shocked by the Prosecution's response.
"When Operation Autumn Clouds was being carried out in Gaza, the State through the Defense Ministry and defense officials issued a specific order that students should only study in fortified classes," she stated.
"Now the State needs to decide if what was true two weeks ago isn't true today," she added. "It's a disgrace that such a response is uttered in court, and it would have been better not to utter it at all. I think this is disrespect towards the whole subject of fortification. We will stand by our right to entirely fortify all the educational institutes," she concluded.
