Outrage after arson attack on Jerusalem synagogue of top Shas party rabbi
Some damage to building and prayer books inside, but no injuries at house of worship frequented by former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef; Shin Bet said to treat case as terrorism
An arson and vandalism attack at a Jerusalem synagogue early Sunday drew condemnation from across the political field, with the Shin Bet security service said to be treating it as a terror incident.
Senior ultra-Orthodox political figures blamed the incident on anti-Haredi “incitement” relating to the fight over the conscription of yeshiva students.
The synagogue is frequented by former Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, who is also the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party.
Firefighters were called to the Or Habib synagogue in the Sanhedria neighborhood, where a fire erupted. In a possibly related event, minutes before police were alerted to the fire, they received a report that a cross was found daubed on the door of a nearby apartment.
The synagogue suffered minor damage due to the fire, and holy books were burned, including some authored by Yosef and his late father, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. A chair specifically designated for Yosef was also badly burnt in the incident.
There were no injuries.
חשד להצתה: שריפה בבית הכנסת של הרב יצחק יוסף בירושלים | תיעוד@VeredPelman pic.twitter.com/xiLqjWSclJ
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Security camera video shared on social media showed a figure roving around the darkened synagogue before flames erupt at one end, and the person quickly moves away.
The Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that it was an arson attack.
“After an examination of all the findings at the scene, it was unequivocally determined that this was arson,” the service, which is probing the incident together with the police, said.
Police did not report any arrests related to the incident.
יו״ר ש״ס, ח״כ הרב אריה דרעי, הנחה להעמיד באופן מיידי חברת אבטחה פרטית לשמירה על ביתו של מו״ר הראש״ל הגאון רבי יצחק יוסף שליט״א, עד להשלמת סידורי האבטחה מצד כוחות הביטחון ולהבהרת ממצאי החקירה. pic.twitter.com/xdn8BgU1tm
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The Shas party is part of the ruling coalition, but it has recently threatened, along with other ultra-Orthodox factions, to bring down the government over its failure to legislate broad army exemptions for members of their community, also called Haredim.
In a statement, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri called the arson “a serious hate crime” aimed not only at the former chief rabbi but against “an entire tradition-keeping community and against the values of the Jewish identity of the State of Israel.”
Such incidents “must not be allowed to become a daily occurrence,” Deri said, adding that the Shin Bet was treating the incident as “a nationalist terrorist attack” and that until the government can beef up Yosef’s security, he will provide a private guard for the rabbi’s home.
On Sunday, Deri and Yosef visited the targeted synagogue and prayed the mincha afternoon prayer, near the torched holy books, broken window and burnt chair.
When asked whether he thought the incident was connected to the ongoing coalition crisis over Haredi enlistment, Deri replied that he had no clue.
“I see a hate crime here. Someone who came and burnt Torah scrolls and drew crosses — there is no other explanation,” he said, choking up slightly, then standing up to pray alongside Yosef.
President Isaac Herzog denounced the attack as a “hate crime” and urged authorities to quickly investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the “arson and desecration.”
“We must not allow scenes that remind us of tragic periods in our history,” he said, citing the Fire and Rescue Service’s determination that the fire was set intentionally.
“I call on law enforcement authorities to locate the perpetrators as soon as possible” and punish them to the full extent of the law, Netanyahu demanded.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also condemned the incident, saying that he “expects the police to quickly find the culprits and bring them to the strictest justice,” while Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman declared that “a handful of criminals must not be allowed to undermine the unity of Israeli society.”
In a statement, MK Yisrael Eichler, of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, claimed that whoever set the synagogue on fire was working to “incite civil war” and warned that “the antisemitic campaign being waged against the Torah world is liable to result in bloodshed.”
The phrase “the Torah world” refers to the network of full-time yeshivas that form the backbone of ultra-Orthodox society.
“The antisemitic incitement in the media and the government persecution of the holy ones of Israel, Torah students and the observant must immediately cease,” Eichler said.
Yosef is a vocal opponent of efforts to conscript the ultra-Orthodox and has come under intense criticism for statements calling for Haredim to leave Israel if draft dodgers are arrested. He recently called Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair Yuli Edelstein “wicked” for demanding tough sanctions on yeshiva students who evade military service.
Last month, Yisrael Beytenu’s Liberman filed a criminal complaint against Yosef over his instruction to yeshiva students to tear up and flush enlistment orders.
Both UTJ chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf and MK Moshe Gafni, the chairman of UTJ’s Degel HaTorah faction, released statements condemning the incident without actively assigning blame.
Current Chief Rabbi David Yosef, who is Yitzhak Yosef’s brother, said he was “shocked” to hear of the incident, while the mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Lion, condemned the “criminal act,” saying it “reminds one of dark periods.”
The Times of Israel Community.