Thousands march in the Jerusalem Pride Parade, mark them for decade since fatal hate stabbing

On Thursday afternoon, thousands marched in Jerusalem’s Pride Parade under strict security when paradise marked a decade since the deadly stabbing of a young girl who took part in the annual event.

Many demonstrators of President Isaac Herzog and a handful of foreign diplomat-laying wreaths and flowers when they passed the place where 16-year-old Shira Banki was murdered by a Haredi extremist.

As in previous years, since the murder of Banki, the police closed the main streets in the capital along the route of the march and blocked pedestrians to enter the area, unless they were wearing a pink bracelet, which signaled their participation in the event.

Around 2,000 civil servants and border police officers were deployed, with most Manning -Crowd controlled barricades line the streets.

The Jerusalem Open House, the organization that led the parade, said the event would “reflect” the spirit of the time with Israel in Gaza Strip, which in Hamas captivity and rising anti-LGBTQ feeling were spotted worldwide.

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Some demonstrators came out in rainbow flags, dresses loaded with sequins and a striking make-up, while others treated the event as a protest, put on a T-shirts of hostage families and blew the right-wing politicians of Israel.

Thousands take part in the Jerusalem Pride Parade on June 5, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Members of the Progressive Advocacy Group Mehazkim, who were distributed before March, said the Times of Israel that the police ordered them to remove anti -war messages from their stand.

“We had stickers and shirts about ending the war, bringing the hostages back and ending the job,” said a group of volunteers. “Police officers asked to remove all of these things, or they would force us out of the event and are fine. They also took photos of our ID cards.”

She said that the police justified the decision that the event was not political, although several political parties from center links were able to freely distribute their goods.

During the march, a group of left -wing marches who wore black against the Gaza strip also sharpened with the police. The police were shot to violently confiscate their signs. Hebrew outlets reported that a marcher was arrested.

Stand with signs in a march in Jerusalem and the police are violent – tears pic.twitter.com/1rjdjkvv6z

– Burk Shavit (@lirishavit) June 5, 2025

The police did not immediately answer a request for a comment.

Before March started, the police chief of Israel, Danny Levy, came to Liberty Bell Park to “check” the willingness of the officials on site.

“We will do everything we can to ensure that the currently beginning march will end where it should end. This is our role – to enable the community to do what you want to do today to respect it,” he told reporters. Those who do not respect it, he said, “we will meet, determine.”

Last year, the National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir stopped on March to “ensure that the order was maintained”. He was hit with widespread boos of participants who quickly gathered around a barricade that separated him from the crowd. The right -wing extremist minister did not appear to this year’s parade.

Police chief Danny Levy speaks at the beginning of the Jerusalem Pride Parade on June 5, 2025 with reporters (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

During the march, many parade visitors held at the site of the murder of Banki and put wreaths and flowers in their memory. Among them were several diplomats and President Duke, who were the first head of state of the Israeli heads of state in Jerusalem.

“We have to set a golden rule: there is absolutely no space for violence,” said Herzog. “There is no dialogue with violence. We are not ready to accept violence in our society. We demand love, respect and equality – also for the LGBTQ+ community, which is an inseparable part of Israeli society.”

President Isaac Herzog (right) and his wife Michal set a wreath on the site of the murder of 15-year-old Shira Banki on Jerusalem Pride Parade on June 5, 2025 (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

Uri Banki, Shira’s father, spoke to the demonstrators at the end of the parade and noticed the war when he said he was one of many Israeli parents who mourned around their own children.

“I am here today because Shira was not killed in the fight, she was not murdered by a foreign enemy,” said Banki of a crowd that was on the smell of grass in Independence Park. “Shira was murdered by an Israeli citizen on Israeli street as a direct result of an incitement in Israel.”

Flowers placed on the spot, the Shira Banki, a teenager in the Jerusalem Pride Parade 2015, was murdered by a Haredi extremist. The demonstrators in Jerusalem marked a decade since their death on June 5, 2025 (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

The murderer Yishai Schlissel was not crazy and was not a runaway, “he continued.” He was an outraged man who is still supported by many people today. Some out of ignorance and stupidity, some in complete understanding. “

On the other side of the street, a group of demonstrators protested with the right-wing extremist Lehava organization against the event, which the group mocked as a “abominations”.

Before the demonstrators made from Liberty Bell Park, the opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned right-wing extremist politicians who have expressed homophobic feelings, some of which have participated in anti-LGBTQ demonstrations in recent years.

“Avi Maoz can’t tell us who we love [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben gvir and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich cannot tell us who we love, the Haredim and the crazy people who protest against us cannot tell us who we love, ”he said to an emerging crowd.

Lapid added that, despite the continuing antipathy over the LGBTQ community, Israel has increased in the course of the decade since the murder of Banki. He insisted that many legal wing in Israel have made a “big change” and are increasingly tolerant of same -sex couples.

The opposition leader Yair Lapid speaks on June 5, 2025 with Jerusalem Pride Parade Marchers in Liberty Bell Park (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

“It’s not just those who are here [at this march]It is a Likudnik family from Ashdod, in which the gay nephew brings his partner to the Shabbat table … people who define themselves as conservative in every issue, ”he added.

However, he said that the “fight will not end” as long as the children fear that they will get out of the closet and continue to “introduce homophobic material into schools” as long as homophobic legislators AVI Maoz.

The deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Yossi Havilio, who spoke immediately after Lapid, agreed to his comments, but warned that “Sinister Winds” had a difficult way for LGBTQ’s acceptance.

“Dark winds blow. We see it in the USA with the actions of the Trump government against the Pride community and transgender people, we see it in Europe and we also see it in Israel, in which the actors within the government want to follow the Pride community,” he said.

Havilio added that the Pride March, which took place for its 23rd year in a row, was initially rejected by the municipality of Jerusalem and the government and could only take place in the capital as a result of a decision by the High Court of Justice.

“This fact also underlines how important it is to keep the judicial system strong and independent so that it protects the rights of the citizen,” he said, referring to the government’s legal efforts.

Lazar Berman contributed to this report.