Israeli police ‘disciplined’ after failure to stop stabbings at Jerusalem Pride
A number of police officers in Jerusalem have been reprimanded – after a known violent extremist went on a stabbing rampage at the city’s Pride parade.
16-year-old Shira Banki was killed and five others were wounded, after an ultra-Orthadox Jewish pulled a knife and went on a stabbing spree during Jerusalem’s Pride parade.
Haredi man Yishai Schlissel was arrested and charged over the attack – but it later emerged he had been released from prison just three weeks before the attack, after serving a sentence for attacking the same parade in 2005.
Reports also allege that Schlissel had made public threats to attack the Parade, that police were aware of him, and that officers had been ordered to keep him away from the march.
However, despite precautions he was able to slip past security to carry out his deadly attack.
Israel Hayom reports that following an investigation into the incident, eleven police officers were disciplined – including the chief of Jerusalem’s police and two district commanders.
Of the eleven, four have been formally reprimanded, and seven reassigned.
Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan said that the personal sanctions “on an unprecedented scale” were warranted due to the “grave events which could have been prevented”.
Equality activists recently rallied in the city to mark a month since Shira Banki’s death.
Sarah Kala-Meir of the Jerusalem Open House said: “The winds of hatred and racism have spread through Jerusalem since the stabbing, and have made it clear that we cannot stand idle anymore.
“We are all victims of this violence and all have a shared responsibility in stopping it. In this rally we are not looking to hear more empty words – we want to hear what has been done over the last month, and what will change in the coming years.”
