Israeli police arrest man after six stabbed in Gay Pride parade

Police in Israel have arrested a man after six people were wounded in a stabbing at the Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem yesterday.

A spokesperson said the suspect is Yishai Schlissel – the same man who stabbed three people at a gay parade in 2005. Schlissel, an ultra-Orthodox Jew, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for that attack and was released just three weeks ago, notes the BBC.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz claims that, since his release, Schlissel had been distributing pamphlets urging "all Jews faithful to God" to risk "beatings and imprisonment" to prevent the gay pride parade.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

According to eye-witnesses, the attacker had run into a crowd of marchers in West Jerusalem's Keren Hayesod Street as they walked towards Liberty Bell Park for a rally. He then knifed one man in the back, before stabbing others as he ran.

He was pursued by police and eventually overpowered. "I saw his eyes," said one eye-witness. "It was just hate. It was very painful to see. It was very dramatic."

Israel's emergency service said six young people were wounded, two of them seriously. Hanoch Zelinger, a medic who treated the wounded at the scene, said one woman was stabbed in the back, chest and neck, and was unconscious on the ground.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack as "a most serious incident". He added: "In the state of Israel the individual's freedom of choice is one of basic values. We must ensure that in Israel, every man and woman lives in security in any way they choose."