Anti-Pride rabbi accuses Jerusalem police of attacking wife
An Israeli rabbi under investigation for the Jerusalem Pride attack has accused the police of assaulting his wife.
Rabbi Idan Grossman, who has protested against Jerusalem Pride events in the past, was being pursued by the police for questioning in connection with Yishai Schlissel stabbing attack on Thursday – which has left one dead and five injured.
Yishai Schlissel was released three weeks ago after serving 10 years in prison for a previous attack at the same parade in 2005.
The Jerusalem Post reports that officers entered Grossman’s home on Saturday evening. After finding that Idan wasn’t home, they began to question his wife, Yocheved.
Officers requested that she come to the police station for questioning. Grossman alleges that when she refused, she was forced into a police vehicle.
According to Grossman, this is not the first time that the police have come to his home. He told Walla! News that he is “in shock” from the incident.
“I feel that such a thing does not belong in the State of Israel,” said Grossman. “I want to tell you that anyone who witnessed this isn’t able to sleep at night from what they saw … [the police] broke into our home, without a warrant or anything.”
Jerusalem District Police have yet to comment on the matter.
The couple’s lawyer, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has accused the police of a witch-hunt in response to Yishai Schlissel’s attack. “It’s not clear why they’re arresting people who oppose the gay pride parade,” said Ben-Gvir. “Is it forbidden to oppose a parade like this?”
Ben-Gvir also accused the police of attempting to “cover up their fiasco” surrounding Schlissel’s release. Schlissel had been released from prison after serving a ten-year sentence for an attack at a 2005 Pride parade only three weeks before the incident.
Leading ultra-orthodox leaders have since spoken out to condemn the attacks, with Israel’s Chief Rabbis David Lau and Yitzhak Yosef asking the Jewish people to stand together in “kindness and tolerance.”
“The Torah of the Jewish people forbids all violence and [efforts to] injure any person, and especially someone who tries to kill another person,” said Lau.
“It’s unthinkable that a man can lift up his hand against another Jewish soul in the name of religion,” said Yosef.
“I am praying from the bottom of my heart for the full recovery of those who were injured, and in the face of this type of hatred I call on the entire Jewish people to return to unity in kindness and tolerance.”
