1 in 5 Zionist sixth-formers carry arms

About one in five Zionist secondary school sixth-formers brought a weapon to school in 2006, according to a study published on Monday in the Yediot Aharonot daily.

 
At least 18 percent of Jewish Israelis carried weapons such as a knife, dagger, club or even gun, the study found.

 
The Tel Aviv-based Bar-Ilan University research centre on youth affairs questioned a sample of 6,166 sixth-formers, both boys and girls.

 
Another survey published by the same newspaper found that violent crime reported to police in Israel so far this year involving weapons other than guns had increased 37 percent compared with the same period of 2007.