After Iran claims Israel attacked Tehran synagogue, Israel official tells ToI: ‘Israel doesn’t target synagogues’

By Lazar Berman

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7 April 2026, 3:09 pm

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Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

An excavator removes rubble at the site of a strike that, according to Iranian media reports, destroyed half of the Khorasaniha Synagogue and nearby residential buildings in Tehran, Iran, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Several hours after Iranian state media claimed that Israel targeted and partially destroyed a synagogue in Tehran in an airstrike, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that “Israel doesn’t target synagogues. Anyone claiming otherwise thinks you’re gullible.”

The official spoke off the record, and there has been no direct Israeli comment on the incident.

In response to an inquiry from the Times of Israel, the Prime Minister’s Office states: “Iran is firing missiles at civilians, Israel is striking terror infrastructure. Missiles on civilians versus precision strikes on terror targets. That’s the difference.”