17 August 2016
Yishai Schlissel, the ultra-Orthodox Jew serving a life sentence for
killing 16-year-old Shira Banki at last year’s Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade, was hospitalized Wednesday after being assaulted by other inmates at Ayalon Prison during an argument over the murder.
Schlissel was taken to Assaf Harofeh Medical Center outside Tel Aviv, where he was treated for his injures. Police opened an investigation into the incident. According to the Ynet news website, the hospital said that the convicted killer was lightly hurt.
Last month, Schlissel was moved to a protected area of the prison and separated from the other prisoners after another physical altercation with a fellow prisoner left him hospitalized.
An argument developed between Schlissel and the other two prisoners, apparently over the murder of Banki at the 2015 parade. The two prisoners began punching Schlissel in the face until guards — hearing the commotion — rushed in to separate them.
Last month, Schlissel was attacked after he tore up photos of a fellow inmate’s daughters he had hanging in his cell, saying the girls were “dressed immodestly.”
Enraged, the prisoner beat Schlissel until prison guards separated the two. Schlissel was hospitalized for unspecified injuries.
The prison warden placed Schlissel in solitary confinement for a number of days as a disciplinary measure.
After an evaluation by prison officials, the warden decided to give Schlissel a separate cell citing his volatile behavior.