Haifa Man Arrested Over Alleged Incitement Against Pride March Participants

A 37-year-old Haifa resident, Maron, was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of inciting violence against the LGBTQ community after posting a comment on social media in response to news about Tel Aviv Pride events. He spent the night in custody, and on Friday police asked Haifa Magistrate’s Court to extend his detention by four days.

According to the police, the comment said, in part, “They were destroyed once, apparently it’s time to destroy again. Sick people, disgusting.” Sgt. Maj. Mariana Khouri of the Coastal District fraud investigations unit told the court that this was “a serious incident” and that he had effectively called for harm against people taking part in the Pride march. Defense lawyer Sami Faisal argued it was a “one-time mistake” and that Maron already regrets what he wrote.

Judge Jada Basoul found there was reasonable suspicion of an offense and said the wording of the post contained “a call for an act of violence against the LGBTQ community, which poses unnecessary risk.” At the same time, she ruled there was no justification to keep him behind bars.

Maron was released under restrictive conditions: three days of full house arrest at his brother’s home, a requirement to appear for questioning whenever needed, a 30-day ban on social media use except viewing content, and a 30-day ban on entering Tel Aviv. He was released on a 5,000-shekel personal guarantee. Separately, the same court on Tuesday released an 18-year-old Haifa resident, Or Talnov, to house arrest in a case involving threats against former prime minister Naftali Bennett and the LGBTQ community.