Police say an Orthodox Jew – who stabbed marchers at a Jerusalem gay pride parade 10 years ago – launched another knife attack at the same type of parade in the same city Thursday, stabbing and wounding six people who were on the streets for the event, police said.
Police arrested the attacker, Yishai Shlissel, at the scene of the brutle crime. However, report that of the six people stabbed Thursday, two were injured seriously.
Israeli police say Shlissel, an Orthodox Jew, was released from prison three weeks ago after serving a 10-year prison sentence for stabbing and wounding three marchers at a Jerusalem gay pride parade in 2005.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the government would “pursue justice for those responsible” for the latest attack. The government fell short of calling it an act of terror, but Netanyahu did call it “a despicable hate crime.”
In the state of Israel, the freedom of choice of an individual is one of the most basic values. We must ensure that in Israel every man and woman lives confidently in any way they (choose).
This is how we operate and this is how we will continue to operate. I wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”
President Reuven Rivlin said of the incident.
We came together today for a festive event, but the joy was shattered when a terrible hate crime occurred here in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. People celebrating their freedom and expressing their identity were viciously stabbed. We must not be deluded; a lack of tolerance will lead us to disaster. We cannot allow such crimes, and we must condemn those who commit and support them.”
Israel has relatively liberal gay rights policies, despite the ultra-Orthodox community’s hostility towards homosexuals. The Jewish state repealed a ban on consensual same-sex sexual acts in 1988.