Jerusalem police on Sunday arrested an ultra-Orthodox man, who is about 40 years old, after he spat on a 15-year-old girl because she was supposedly not dressed modestly enough.
The incident occurred next to a clinic on Strauss Street, in the center of Jerusalem near Haredi neighborhoods. The girl was wearing pants and walking with family. The suspect, Yosef Chaim Jabali, approached her and spat on her.
- The clinic guard and several passersby witnessed the incident.
The girl's relatives called the police, which arrested the suspect on suspicion of assault after he tried to escape.
He was brought to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court for remand. The judge partially accepted the police's request to keep the suspect in custody until Wednesday, saying that extending remand was justified, but only for a short time – ultimately extending the remand until 6pm on Monday. After that, the suspect will be released under certain restrictive conditions, including showing up for questioning.
Jerusalem police emphasized that the investigation was ongoing and that it planned to submit its findings to prosecutors.
The spitting incident occurred after two weeks after Shira Banki was murdered in a knife attack committed by Yishai Shlissel, a haredi man, at the Jerusalem pride parade.