Minister orders further work on pride parade murder inquiry
Report submitted to Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who requests a more complete review on security and intelligence failures before Jerusalem attack; criticism of individual senior officials in the police is expected.
Two weeks after the security failure that at Jerusalem's gay pride parade led to the murder of Shira Banki by Yishai Shlissel, the inquiry commission on Sunday submitted its conclusions to the interim chief of Police, Deputy Commissioner Bentzi Sau.
The commission's conclusions were also presented to Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who ordered further study and the submission of a revised report in the coming days.
The commission headed by retired Deputy Commissioner Israel Yitzhak was formed immediately after the murder, with the intent of discovering how Shlissel managed to commit the crime that he had attempted a decade earlier.
Senior law enforcement officers told Ynet that police expected the commission's findings to include conclusions about high-rankings individuals in the Jerusalem District Police, but not about the district's chief, Deputy Commissioner Moshe Edri.
The commission discussed, among other things, the intelligence failure that meant Shlissel was not under police surveillance, despite having stated his intent to harm parade participants.
It also questioned why warnings by police officers that Shlissel was out of prison and could attempt violence at the parade never reached officers on the ground. Some of the officers who were questioned sought legal advice before testifying to the commission.
"The Police Central Unit's operations department failed," said a source. "They should have been supervising and using technological means, but they neglected their role. Anyone trying to blame the district commanders is covering his ass."
According to police sources, commanders and officers have been placing responsibility on one another.
Some have said that the Central Unit failed to monitor Shlissel, while others emphasized that security at the parade was up to local forces.
