Central District police arrested a man from the town of Even Yehuda on Saturday night on suspicion of vandalizing Torah scrolls and prayer books in a synagogue in Kadima-Zoran last week, authorities said.
The arrest follows a rapid investigation launched after worshippers arriving for Shabbat prayers at the Mishkan Shalom synagogue of the Yemenite community on Ben Zvi Street discovered torn Torah scrolls and religious books scattered across the sanctuary floor. Pages from prayer books were ripped out and left strewn throughout the building.
Vandalism at synagogue in Kadima
(Video: Avi Ratzabi)
Police said the suspect will be brought before a judge to request an extension of his detention as the investigation continues.
Chai Ratzabi, a congregant at the synagogue, told reporters last week that the scene was “horrifying.”
“The Torah scrolls were thrown to the floor, stepped on and all the books were torn,” he said. “This wasn’t a one-minute act of vandalism — it was page-by-page destruction. Hundreds of books were torn into tiny pieces and thrown on the floor.”
Ratzabi added that nothing was taken from the synagogue. “This is a hate crime like the kind we’ve only seen in the darkest of places,” he said.