The 2015 Jerusalem Pride Parade attack
On July 30, 2015, Yishai Schlissel entered the route of the Jerusalem Pride Parade and stabbed multiple participants. Sixteen-year-old Shira Banki suffered fatal injuries and later died in hospital. Six other people were injured in the attack.
Shira had joined the march in support of friends and the principle of equality. The criminal case was not built around a dispute over her conduct; it centered on Schlissel's deliberate decision to attack people at the parade.
A repeat attack after an earlier conviction
The 2015 crime carried an especially serious institutional dimension because Schlissel had attacked the Jerusalem Pride Parade before. In 2005, he stabbed participants at the same annual event and was convicted of attempted murder and aggravated assault. He served roughly a decade in prison and was released only weeks before the 2015 parade.
Reporting on the later proceedings established that Schlissel publicly opposed the parade before the attack. Police knew of his earlier violence and had identified him as a potential threat, yet he was still able to enter the route. The Jerusalem District Court sharply criticized that failure when it convicted him.
Charges and conviction
Schlissel was charged with premeditated murder in Shira's death, attempted murder counts relating to the other people attacked, and aggravated assault. He repeatedly refused to recognize the court's authority and did not cooperate normally with the proceedings, but psychiatric assessments found him fit to stand trial and a public defender represented him.
On April 19, 2016, the Jerusalem District Court convicted Schlissel of Shira Banki's murder, six counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault. The court concluded that the attack was intentional and rejected any basis for treating the conduct as something less than deliberate lethal violence.
Sentence: life plus 31 years
On June 26, 2016, the court imposed a life sentence for Shira's murder. It added 30 years for the attempted murders and another year for violating conditions connected to his earlier release, producing the widely reported sentence of life imprisonment plus 31 years.
The court also ordered compensation for Shira's family and the other victims. The exact compensation totals vary slightly across contemporaneous reports, but the core criminal outcome does not: Schlissel was sentenced to life imprisonment with additional consecutive time for the other offenses.
Police failures and institutional review
The judges separately criticized the policing of the parade. Schlissel's 2005 attack was directly relevant to risk assessment, and he had been released shortly before the 2015 event. An internal police review later recommended personnel consequences for multiple officers and commanders connected to planning and intelligence failures.
Those failures are significant to the case's context, but they do not change the identity of the convicted murderer. The criminal responsibility for Shira Banki's death was established against Schlissel; the police review addressed whether authorities could and should have prevented him from reaching the marchers.
Timeline
2005: Yishai Schlissel attacks the Jerusalem Pride Parade and is later convicted of attempted murder and aggravated assault.
July 2015: after serving roughly a decade in prison, Schlissel is released weeks before the next Jerusalem Pride Parade.
July 30, 2015: Schlissel attacks marchers at the parade. Shira Banki, 16, is critically injured and six others are wounded.
August 2015: Shira dies from her injuries. Schlissel is charged with murder and attempted murder.
April 19, 2016: the Jerusalem District Court convicts Schlissel of murder, six attempted murders and aggravated assault.
June 26, 2016: he is sentenced to life imprisonment plus 31 years and ordered to pay victim compensation.
Later 2016: institutional scrutiny of police failures surrounding the parade continues, with senior officers facing recommendations for removal or reprimand.
Current classification
The murder of Shira Banki is classified Solved / Adjudicated. Yishai Schlissel was convicted by the Jerusalem District Court and sentenced to life plus 31 years. The case remains notable both for the deliberate anti-LGBTQ violence and for the documented failure to prevent a previously convicted attacker from reaching the same public event again.
Sources
- Jewish Telegraphic Agency — Jerusalem Pride Parade attacker convicted of Shira Banki's murder, April 19, 2016
- The Times of Israel — Schlissel sentenced to life plus 31 years, June 26, 2016
- Jewish Telegraphic Agency — murder and attempted-murder charges, September 8, 2015
- The Times of Israel — court criticism and internal police review after the attack, May 2016