Israel Hayom | Court says Corrie death 'regrettable,' but army not to blame

A Haifa court apparently rejected the suit brought by the family of Rachel Corrie, an American citizen killed in 2003 while protesting the Israeli army's demolition of homes in Gaza.

I haven't read the decision yet but I presume the army has some sort of immunity from suits like this.

"I reject the suit," the judge said in a ruling read out to a packed courtroom. "There is no justification to demand the state pay any damages."

Gershon said soldiers had done their utmost to keep people away from the site on the day of the protest, in March 2003. "She [Corrie] did not distance herself from the area, as any thinking person would have done," he said.

Israel Hayom | Court says Corrie death 'regrettable,' but army not to blame

**Update Aug 29, 2012 **

I just saw an analysis in the JPost discussing the combat activities exemption that provides immunity for the military from claims for damages inflicted while engaged in combat support activities even though not a full fledged war.

Municipality Playing Hardball with Nursery School Teachers

Recently, a friend of mine asked me about a 3-year non-compete clause his nursery teacher wife was asked by the city of Jerusalem to sign.

Last year, the Knesset passed a new law providing for free nursery school education for 3 and 4 year olds (see article here.)  In order to immediately implement this law, the city asked local nursery teachers who already had private classes in their apartments if they wanted to fill the positions available for the city nurseries. Many of these women already had established reputations in their neighborhoods. Now, they could go to work for the city and bring their clientele with them.

My friend's wife had been running her own nursery program for a few years and applied for a position and was accepted. She recruited children for the class but had not yet signed a contract with the city. When she received the contract, she was surprised to see that it had a 3-year non-compete clause that looked something like this: