Why was he allowed to stab gay people again?
Questions are being asked about why the Israeli authorities were unable to stop a man convicted of stabbing gay people a decade ago from doing it again.
On Thursday, Yishai Shlissel, an ultra-Orthodox Jew, stabbed six participants at the Jerusalem Pride parade, leaving two seriously injured, before being wrestled to the ground and arrested.
Shockingly, Shlissel had been released from prison just three weeks earlier after he was jailed for doing the same thing at Jerusalem Pride 2005, during which he stabbed three people.
According to International Business Times, Shlissel showed no remorse after being released and continued to openly slate the LGBT community.
He even distributed a pamphlet describing Jerusalem Pride as “shameful” and “blasphemous” and gave anti-gay interviews to media outlets.
“It is incumbent upon every Jew to risk beatings or imprisonment and together to stop the desecration for the sanctity of His name. If we refrain from declaring war, they’ll feel free to spread this shame all over the world,” Shlissel ranted on the flyer.
Despite clear indications that he remained a danger to the LGBT community, he was allowed to go to the parade and stab six people in front of a substantial police presence.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat admitted that it was troubling that Shlissel was so easily able to resume his anti-gay violence.
“Clearly something went wrong here. The police will have to look into this deeply,” he said.
At a press conference, Acting Police Commissioner Benzi Sau commented: “This is something that must not happen. We will investigate this thoroughly. There will be no whitewashing.”
Meanwhile, Education Minister Naftali Bennett announced that he would “dramatically” increase funding to fight homophobia in the school system, in response to the attack.
“I won’t allow any youth in Israel to fear walking outside due to their lifestyle,” he was quoted as saying by Ynetnews.
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