Ra’anana – Two Jewish teenagers were arrested Tuesday for
defacing a Ra’anana synagogue with antisemitic graffiti and vandalizing the
building over the weekend.
The two allegedly tore mezuzas off the doorways of the Ahavat Reim
Synagogue in the city. Mezuzas are pieces of parchment containing Biblical
verses inside decorative cases that are affixed to the doorposts of Jewish
homes and businesses. The alleged vandals, who are Jewish, painted crosses and
swastikas on the parchment pieces in their own blood and plastered the
desecrated parchment on the walls of the synagogue building.
Nearby residents told Kfar Saba police, who were investigating the
incident, that close to a dozen mezuzas from their apartment buildings had also
gone missing that day, and reported seeing the two 17-year-olds in the
neighborhood at the time.
The suspects, both Ra’anana residents, told police they had acted our of
boredom.
Kfar Saba’s police chief called the incident a “heinous desecration of
religious symbols” and said authorities were treating the incident with utmost
seriousness.
