A Jerusalem resident was arrested on suspicion of spraying the phrase “There is a Holocaust in Gaza” on one of the walls of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel Police confirmed on Tuesday.
This comes just weeks after the same graffiti was found sprayed on the Western Wall, with many Israeli sites linking the two events and claiming that the 27-year-old man could be the author in both instances.
The police report explained that a suspicious man was seen wandering near one of the entrances of the Old City and was later arrested near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with a paint spray in his possession.
The police also informed that, thanks to Jerusalem’s surveillance cameras, it was able to identify him as the author of a graffiti made inside the church that read, “There is a Holocaust in Gaza.”
The suspect was taken into custody with a pending court case, while an investigation was opened into the matter.
Second “Holocaust” graffiti in weeks
The preliminary findings of the investigation determined that the arrested 27-year-old was the same that sprayed the Western Wall with similar graffiti at the beginning of August.
On that occasion, a Jerusalem Magistrate's Court judge denied a request from Israel Police to extend the detention of the suspect involved in the recent graffiti incident at the Western Wall and the Great Synagogue.
The judge emphasized that there was no need to delay the investigation while the defendant remained in custody.
The police initially requested five more days of detention, citing concerns about the suspect's danger and possible disruption. However, a statement from the police indicated that the 27-year-old suspect, a resident of Ramot in Jerusalem and the son of an ultra-Orthodox family, would be released under restrictive conditions.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites, condemned this act of desecration. “A holy place is not a place to express protests,” he said, adding that the police should locate the perpetrator and act appropriately.
Joanie Margulies contributed to this report.