Jerusalem Pride attacker found fit to stand trial

The ultra-Orthodox man who stabbed a 16-year-old girl to death at last month’s Jerusalem Pride march has been found fit to stand trial.

Yishai Schlissel, who wounded five others when he attacked the parade just three weeks after his release from prison, had repeatedly refused to participate in legal proceedings and a Jerusalem Magistrates Court judge had decreed earlier this month that he may not have been competent enough to face a court.

However, psychiatric examinations have now found Schlissel – jailed for ten years in 2005 after stabbing 3 people at the same event – was fully responsible for his actions and it is now likely he will be charged with murder and attempted murder.

The 39-year-old has previously claimed that he “does not recognise” the “secular” state of Israel and that the authorities “have no jurisdiction”.

He told Jerusalem Magistrates Court earlier this month: “I am not interested in participating in these legal games, not by myself, not via representation.”

Shlissel’s attack – which killed 16-year-old student Shira Banki – attracted widespread condemnation in Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time: “We won’t permit the terrible murderer to challenge the basic values on which Israeli society is built.

“We reject with disgust any attempt to impose hatred and violence among us and will bring the murderer to justice.”