President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday afternoon 11 Iyar met at his residence with a delegation of over 80 students from Israel’s Ethiopian community, as part of a seminar on education.

The President began his address with reference to the difficult pictures broadcast in the mainstream and social media this week, which appear to show an Israeli soldier from the Ethiopian community being beaten by a policeman.

The President said, “The shock that we all felt when we saw those pictures – which I am pleased to say immediately led the Israeli Police to carry out a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident and its awful outcome – is still deeply felt.”

The President went on to stress, “We cannot sit back in the face of anger and shouting – incidents such as these must serve as a warning sign, and an opportunity to conduct some genuine and thorough introspection on the issue of the relationship between the law enforcement services and the different communities which make up Israeli society. I believe, and have even discussed with the Chief of Police, that the police will do all in its power to conduct an investigation and correct what needs correcting, to ensure such events are not repeated.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)