Heavy security for Jerusalem Gay Pride year after deadly attack
JERUSALEM - Hundreds of Israeli police are being drafted into Jerusalem to protect the city's Gay Pride march on Thursday, a year after an ultra-Orthodox Jew killed a teenager and also stabbed five other people.
Shira Banki, 16, was killed at the march last August after she was attacked at random along with five others by Yishai Shlissel, who is now serving a life sentence.
Shlissel had spent 10 years in jail after an almost identical attack on the 2005 Jerusalem Gay Pride march and had been released just three weeks before last year's event, leading to criticism of police.
This year they have promised to increase the number of officers, with up to 1,000 being deployed.
All marchers will be inspected at the beginning of the march and have been pre-registered to take part, and carrying a weapon of any kind will be prohibited, police said.
Ultra-Orthodox Jew Yishai Shlissel (C), who was convicted of killing a 16-year-old Israeli girl during the Jerusalem Gay Pride parade last year, is escorted into court