Fire service confirms arson behind fire at Jerusalem synagogue

A fire that broke out at a Jerusalem synagogue last night was set intentionally, the Fire and Rescue Service says.

“After an examination of all the findings at the scene, it was unequivocally determined that this was arson,” says the service, which is probing the incident together with the police.

Firefighters were called to Jerusalem’s Sanhedria neighborhood overnight to extinguish the fire. The synagogue is frequented by former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef. Prayer books were also found vandalized in the building. In a possibly related event, a cross was found painted onto the door of a nearby house.

Police have not reported any arrests related to the incident.

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel has called on the Shin Bet to investigate, adding that he had contacted the agency’s outgoing head Ronen Bar regarding the fire, Ynet reports. “This is a worrying escalation and an attack on a national symbol,” he says of the incident, labeling it “a heinous hate crime.”

שרפה פרצה הלילה בבית הכנסת של הרב יצחק יוסף בירושלים, כתובות נאצה וצלבים רוססו על בניין סמוך@daniel_grovais pic.twitter.com/Hbge5o8bMi

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