Jewish suspects arrested over swastika graffiti on synagogues

Police believe two teenagers were behind paint attacks in Petah Tikva

Times of Israel

Police said Sunday that they had arrested two teenagers on suspicion of daubing swastikas on two synagogues in the central town of Petah Tikva.

A police source confirmed to The Times of Israel that the suspects, 17, from Petah Tikva and Haifa, are both Jewish.

On June 3, police received a report that a swastika had been sprayed on the walls of a synagogue on Sokolov Street in Petah Tikva, and another synagogue on Usishkin Street in the city, police said in a statement.

An investigation was opened that led to the arrests of the two minors. The investigation is continuing, police said.

In April police launched an investigation after Nazi images appeared as screensavers on computers in a school in Petah Tikva.

Several students were detained by police after a complaint was filed about two memes of Hitler and concentration camps which appeared on the computer network of the high school.

A police spokesperson said at the time that “it appears that a minor, a student of the educational institution, did some work on a computer in one of the classes, in which he created a presentation with Nazi content.”

Police have investigated several incidents of swastikas spray-painted in various locations in the city in the past few months.

It was not clear if the two 17-year-old suspects were connected to previous incidents of swastika graffiti.