Police widen probe of Haredi soldier who threatened gays

The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court yesterday remanded Shmuel Primarik, who was arrested on suspicion of posting threats on a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Internet forum, for three days.

Police say that Primarik, a soldier in the ultra-Orthodox Nahal Haredi unit, confessed to authoring posts saying "more serious attacks are expected against the gays; don't say you didn't know about it." The messages were posted on Saturday night, shortly before a Tel Aviv rally commemorating the victims of the previous week's shooting attack on an LGBT support center. Primarik was arrested in Jerusalem later that night.

Though his personal weapon and ammunition have been confiscated, police stressed yesterday that he is not suspected of posting explicit murder threates. They also said he has cooperated with his investigators.

Nevertheless, police sources said, Primarik's arrest was "very important," and they are now looking into whether he was involved in a long list of other homophobic attacks, including several bombs set off to protest Jerusalem Gay Pride parades in previous years. They are also examining whether he was involved in other attacks that they suspect were perpetrated by right-wing religious extremists, such as that on Prof. Zeev Sternhell, who was slightly injured by a pipe bomb placed at his door almost a year ago. However, no connection to Primarik has as yet been found.

Police sources also said they are examining possible connections between these cases and last week's attack on the LGBT center.

However, they refused to explain why Primarik's arrest for posting online threats sparked such an extensive investigation.

In addition to extending Primarik's remand, Judge Arnon Darel denied his request for a gag order on his identity. "The public interest in publishing his identity is obvious, considering the recent murder in Tel Aviv, as are the needs of the investigation," Darel wrote.

The LGBT center shooting was preceded by many less serious homophobic attacks. Although the traditional trigger for such violence, the Jerusalem Gay Pride parade, passed this year without incident, several assaults have been reported in recent months, with transgenders being targeted most frequently.