Impossible to screen everyone, says Hyatt

Hyatt, the group whose Jerusalem hotel was the scene of the assassination of an Israeli government minister last week, said after the killing that it was impractical to make security checks on everybody entering hotels.

Israel's tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi was gunned down outside his bedroom on the eighth floor of the Hyatt hotel in Jerusalem last week. He was staying at the 503-bedroom hotel on Mount Scopus while on parliamentary business in the city.

A Hyatt spokeswoman said: "Prominent individuals will have their own security or police requirements. Responsibility is split between the individual's security and the hotel's security." Ze'evi had no bodyguard, apparently by choice.

The spokeswoman said it was impractical to screen everyone who entered a hotel, and said: "One has to be conscious of the balance of the right to use a public space, the risk at the time, and the individual risk associated with any one person. It's a very delicate balance."

All guests and staff were detained minutes after the shooting for police questioning. The hotel has about 100 Arab employees, and the possibility that a member of staff tipped off the gunman is being explored. Hyatt's spokeswoman said: "It was no secret. Anyone who saw him in the lobby would know he was staying there."

by Ben Walker

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 25-31 October 2001