Israel: German Partner Of Attack Victim Must Leave

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel plans to expel the German partner of an Israeli killed in a 2009 shooting at a community center in Tel Aviv, an official said Wednesday, prompting appeals from the gay community leaders and an Israeli lawmaker to let him stay.

Thomas Schmidt, 27, began the bureaucratic process of registering himself as the partner of an Israeli citizen in 2008. But less than a year later, a masked gunman opened fire at a meeting of gay and lesbian youth and killed two Israelis, including Schmidt's partner, Nir Katz, 26.

It was the worst assault against Israel's gay community. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to bring the killer to justice, while other Israeli leaders vowed efforts to promote tolerance toward gays and lesbians in Israel.

Police continue to search for the assailant.

Schmidt, who has lived in Israel since 2004, wishes to remain in the country, said Nirit Moskovich of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which represents Schmidt. He has grown close to the family of his slain Israeli partner and does not maintain contact with his family in Germany, Moskovich said.

Sabine Hadad, a spokeswoman for Israel's Interior Ministry, said Schmidt's case was brought last year before a special humanitarian committee, which ruled that Schmidt could extend his stay in Israel for nine months only.

When Schmidt arrived at the Interior Ministry this week, he was told his visa had expired and would not be renewed. Schmidt says he was never informed of the nine month restriction, Moskovich said.

Nitzan Horowitz, Israel's only openly gay lawmaker, wrote Israel's interior minister that "there would be no damage to the state of Israel if such a positive person as Thomas Schmidt, in light of the difficult and extraordinary circumstances, would stay with us here."

Yonatan Gher, head of a Jerusalem gay community organization, harshly criticized the decision to expel Schmidt, saying that "while one lone person committed the hate crime" in Tel Aviv in 2009, "today the country is committing a hate crime."

Gher said that "Israel claims at every opportunity how open and accepting it is to the gay community. Now it has the opportunity to put those words into action."

Israel does not permit same-sex marriage in Israel, but recognizes same-sex couples who marry abroad.