The Western Wall in Jerusalem was vandalised on Monday with graffiti condemning the ongoing war in Gaza, authorities said, triggering widespread condemnation from religious leaders and politicians.
“There is a holocaust in Gaza” was graffitied in Hebrew on the southern portion of the wall, the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray, located in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Israeli police said a 27-year-old suspect had been arrested and would appear in court later on Monday, having requested an extension for his detention, without disclosing his identity.
The incident sparked immediate outrage in Israel, with the Western Wall’s Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch calling it a “desecration.”
“A holy place is not a place to express protests… The police must investigate this action, track down the criminals responsible for the desecration and bring them to justice,” Rabinovitch said.
The office in charge of the site’s management said that the graffiti was scrubbed off in the morning.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also weighed in, saying the perpetrators “forgot what it means to be Jewish.”
Former defence minister Benny Gantz, now an opposition leader, called it “a crime against the entire Jewish people.”
