Beit Shemesh resident arrested after setting fire to Jerusalem synagogue, Clal Building
The suspect was arrested at the Lev HaBira police station and will be presented in court today for an extension of his detention.
A 52-year-old Beit Shemesh resident was arrested on suspicion of burning down a synagogue and another building in Jerusalem early Friday morning, Israeli police said.
Shortly before 1 a.m., first responders were called to the Clal building in downtown Jerusalem following reports of a fire.
According to the initial investigation, the suspect set fire to several cabinets in the building, causing smoke to form in the area, before fleeing the scene.
Half an hour later, a second call came in reporting damage and arson at a synagogue in the city.
Israeli police arrived on the scene and apprehended the suspect based on the eyewitness testimony. A lighter was found among the individual’s personal effects.
The suspect was arrested at the Lev HaBira police station and will be presented in court today for an extension of his detention.
Image showing damage caused by a fire at a Jerusalem synagogue in the Sanhedria neighborhood on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Arson in the synagogue of former Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef
The Israel Fire and Rescue Authority ruled in June that the reported fire at the Or Habib Synagogue in Jerusalem’s Sanhedria neighborhood, where former Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef worships, was indeed arson.
Footage showed an individual setting fire to the synagogue before running out of the building. The Torah scrolls were damaged but remained intact.
Just minutes before the fire was reported, police were informed of cross graffiti on the doors of a building near the synagogue.
