Shira Banki, who was murdered during the 2015 parade
Increased police alertness as J'lem pride parade gets underway
Police superintendent says the Jerusalem police has been preparing for the pride for months, taking the event 'with all due operational seriousness.'
Jerusalem’s security forces are gearing up for the city’s annual pride parade which got underway Thursday afternoon as police seek to avoid any violent outbreaks or occurences.
"We've coordinated with several other entities such as the Open House and the Jerusalem municipality," said Chief Superintendent Dakar Eshel.
Photo: EPA
"We do not take the situation lightly," Eshel assured. "It is our duty to make sure the parade goes off without a hitch."
Responding to potential preventive detention, Eshel said: "We haven't carried out any. We only had some precautionary talks with some people. We know how to get our hands on the appropriate people and warn them off beforehand."
Disturbances at past Jerusalem pride parade (Photo: EPA)
After the Shira Banki murder in 2015, Eshel said he doesn't believe the number of people the police has to supervise has grown significantly. "You prepare for every operation on two levels," he says, "the operational level and the intelligence level. Operational preparedness also provides solutions for subjects we don't have any intelligence on."
Preparations for the pride parade include both open and clandestine activities and are based on intelligence gathering and situation estimates. As part of these overall measures, police have arrested a 33-year old man from the central region after he published a threatening Facebook post. The suspect was questioned at the central unit and was brought before a judge, who forbade him to enter Jerusalem until Friday.
