The Westmount synagogue’s rabbi said the attack was “not surprising” considering the recent uptick in antisemitic violence targeting Canadian Jews.

By World Israel News Staff

A Montreal man is facing arson-related charges after allegedly attempting to burn down a local synagogue in the early hours of Friday morning, marking yet another attack on Canada’s Jewish community.

Montreal’s Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom synagogue was targeted when the suspect — identified in media reports as Steven Luu, 38 — allegedly smashed a window before setting the fire.

The blaze was extinguished relatively quickly, and no injuries were reported, though the building sustained damage.

Luu was taken into custody by law enforcement near the scene.

Canadian media reports indicate that Luu, who has a previous burglary conviction, is facing charges of arson and possession of incendiary and explosive materials.

Notably, he has not been charged with a hate crime.

He is also expected to undergo a mental health evaluation to determine his fitness to stand trial.

The synagogue’s rabbi, Lisa Grushcow, told Canadian Jewish News that “we are unfortunately not surprised” by the attack.

“We cannot ignore the broader issues and the unmistakable rise of antisemitism in our city and our country. We also know that we are seeing an escalation: a swastika spray-painted on our building last spring, and now, an arson attack,” she said.

In an email to congregants, Grushcow expressed frustration with local politicians and police, calling on authorities to be “proactive, not reactive.”

Paul Levine, a local politician, told reporters outside the synagogue on Friday morning that the arson attack was “very disturbing for our community.”

Ron Vineberg, a Jewish resident of Westmount, the neighborhood where the synagogue is located, said he was “outraged” by the attack.

“It’s a horrible thing. And there are no words to describe it,” he told Canadian Jewish News.

“It’s just Jew hatred, plain and simple.”

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Teen who tried to torch London synagogue claims he did not mean to target Jewish site amid reports of local men being hired by Iranian-linked groups to terrorize European Jewish communities.

By World Israel News Staff

A 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty on Tuesday to an arson attack on a synagogue in northwest London, in the first conviction tied to a recent string of attacks on Jewish-linked sites in the British capital.

The teenager, who cannot be identified because of his age, admitted to arson not endangering life over the attack on Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow. He was released on bail and is due back in court on June 4.

According to prosecutors, surveillance footage showed the boy climbing over a wall on Saturday night, lighting a bottle of liquid and throwing it through a broken window. The fire caused smoke damage, but no injuries were reported.

In a written statement, the teenager said he did not realize the building was a synagogue. “I have no hate toward the Jewish people,” he said. “I am very sorry for my actions.”

Police said the Kenton attack was part of a broader pattern.

Britain’s counterterrorism police are investigating a cluster of recent arson and attempted arson incidents targeting Jewish- and Israeli-linked sites in London, alongside an attack on a Persian-language media outlet critical of Tehran.

Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes of the Metropolitan Police said several premises “linked to Britain’s Jewish community and to those who oppose the Iranian regime have been targeted in recent arson attacks.”

He described the incidents as part of “a concerted campaign against Londoners, and specifically, against British Jews.”

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said investigators are examining whether “criminal proxies” were recruited to carry out the attacks for money. “The stakes are high,” she said. “It is absolutely not worth the risk for a small reward.”

The wider investigation has continued to expand.

Police said 23 people had been arrested as of Tuesday, with seven held on suspicion of conspiring to set fire to an unspecified Jewish venue.

By Wednesday night, Sky News reported that the arrest total in the separate conspiracy probe had risen to nine over three days, while counterterror police had made 25 arrests overall since the first of the recent cases.

The recent wave of attacks began on March 23, when four ambulances belonging to the Jewish volunteer emergency service Hatzola were torched in Golders Green.

Last week, an attempted arson attack also targeted a synagogue in Finchley. In that case, police said two bottles suspected of containing petrol and a brick were thrown at the building, but neither bottle ignited.

Police have said a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, or Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, has claimed responsibility for most of the recent attacks in Britain. Authorities are investigating possible links to Iran, though they have not publicly alleged direct state control over the synagogue arson case.

“We will not rest until those responsible for these acts are held to full account,” Evans said, as police stepped up patrols around synagogues and other Jewish community sites in north London.

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The Mississippi man arrested after the state’s largest synagogue was torched was identified as 19-year-old Stephen Spencer Pittman, who was hospitalized with burns following the arson.

By World Israel News Staff

The suspect arrested in connection with the torching of the largest synagogue in Mississippi over the weekend has been identified as 19-year-old Stephen Spencer Pittman, a resident of Madison, Mississippi.

Just after 3 a.m. on Saturday, a fire was reported at the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi, the same congregation that was targeted by a Ku Klux Klan bombing attack in 1967.

While firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze before it spread beyond the synagogue, parts of the building sustained heavy damage, with the synagogue’s library and administrative office completely gutted.

The Jackson Fire Department quickly determined that the blaze was the result of arson. Investigators later confirmed this assessment when security camera footage showed a man breaking into the synagogue and pouring liquid from a gas canister before sparking a fire.

The FBI launched a joint investigation with the Jackson Police Department, the ATF, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and by Saturday night authorities announced that a suspect had been taken into custody.

On Monday, the Southern District of Mississippi branch of the United States Attorney’s Office and the Mississippi governor’s office identified the suspect as Stephen Spencer Pittman.

Pittman, they revealed, had been injured during the arson and was admitted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center to treat burn injuries.

Immediately after the arson, Pittman contacted his father, boasting that he had “finally got them,” referring to the Jewish community, the FBI wrote in a criminal complaint filed against Pittman in a federal district court.

During their text conversation, Pittman’s father urged him to come home. Pittman wrote to his father that he had removed the license plate from his car and was wearing a hoodie during the arson in an attempt to evade arrest.

After returning home, Pittman was confronted by his father, who notified the FBI of his son’s actions.

According to the FBI complaint, Pittman’s father said that his son “laughed” while recalling the synagogue arson.

After he was arrested, Pittman told interrogators that he considered the house of worship to be a “synagogue of Satan.”

Authorities have indicted Pittman on arson charges, and if convicted, he could face between five to 20 years in prison.

“This disgusting act of antisemitic violence has no place in our country, and unlike the prior administration, this Department of Justice will not let antisemitism fester and flourish,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“I have directed my prosecutors to seek severe penalties for this heinous act and remain deeply committed to protecting Jewish Americans from hatred.”

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Suspect in custody after Mississippi’s largest synagogue torched – decades after it was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan.

By World Israel News Staff

A suspect is in custody in Jackson, Mississippi, after the state’s largest synagogue was torched in an arson attack over the weekend, leaving part of the historic house of worship gutted.

A fire was reported at Beth Israel Congregation at approximately 3 a.m. on Saturday.

Firefighters dispatched in response managed to contain and extinguish the fire, saving part of the building.

However, the synagogue’s library and administrative offices were gutted in the fire, with two Torah scrolls destroyed and five more damaged. An additional Torah scroll, which survived the Holocaust, was unscathed.

“All contents in that library are destroyed,” Jackson Fire Department Chief Investigator Charles Felton told NPR on Sunday.

“There’s not much that can be retrieved from the library area. The other portions of the building do not have actual fire damage, but they have damage as far as smoke and soot.”

No one was present in the building at the time of the fire and there were no injuries.

The Jackson Fire Department later determined that the blaze was the result of arson, leading the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to join local investigators in probing the incident.

On Saturday night, authorities apprehended a suspect in connection with the arson.

No details have been released regarding the suspect’s identity.

Jackson Police Department Chief Tyree Jones said that the arson division of the JPD was working with the FBI, ATF and the Joint Terrorism Task Force to investigate the fire.

“When a place of worship is targeted, it affects more than one congregation. It shakes the entire community,” Jones wrote in a post to social media. “These acts are not just crimes. They are attacks on people’s sense of safety and their freedom to worship without fear.”

The Anti-Defamation League condemned the arson and noted that this is not the first time the synagogue has been targeted.

In 1967, the congregation was targeted, along with the home of the synagogue’s rabbi in a pair of bombing attacks after the rabbi expressed support for the civil rights movement.

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Investigators said the same individual attempted to ignite a church in the area about a month earlier. 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A historic synagogue tied to the Sadigora hasidic community in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, was badly damaged after a man described by authorities as mentally unstable set the building ablaze on Thursday evening.

Local police detained the suspect soon after the fire began, bringing an end to an incident that unsettled Jewish residents in a city where community leaders say relations with neighbors are typically calm.

Early findings indicate the man entered the Kloiz Kaddisha, located in the Sadhora district, during a brief moment when the guard on duty was not present.

Investigators said the same individual attempted to ignite a church in the area about a month earlier.

The fire at the synagogue was brought under control, but images circulating among community members showed damage to a site considered central to the heritage of the Sadigora dynasty.

Rabbi Menachem Glitzstein, the city’s rabbi and a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary, described the blaze as deeply distressing.

He called the building “one of the most important structures in the world of hasidism” and emphasized that the attack does not reflect broader attitudes in Chernivtsi, Arutz Sheva reports.

He told Jewish institutions in the city receive consistent security support and that local authorities cooperate closely to prevent acts of antisemitism. “All residents here live in brotherhood and peace,” he said.

The Kloiz Kaddisha underwent an extensive restoration roughly a decade ago, nearly 180 years after it was originally constructed by Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin, founder of the Sadigora dynasty.

The structure had fallen into disuse after World War I, when events in 1914 forced the community to abandon its spiritual center. For four generations, Sadigora leaders directed their court from the synagogue, which has been described in hasidic literature as among the grandest of its era.

Ukrainian authorities have opened a formal investigation into the fire while community members assess the damage to a landmark that has stood at the heart of their religious life for nearly two centuries.

The post Historic Ukrainian synagogue set on fire appeared first on World Israel News.

The 35-year-0ld man accused of setting fire to a Melbourne synagogue did not act out of antisemitic hatred, a judge has ruled.

By World Israel News Staff

An Australian court has ruled out antisemitism as the motivation behind an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue last year, releasing the perpetrator from jail after he was found to be mentally ill.

On Monday, Magistrate Malcolm Thomas ordered that 35-year-old Angelo Loras be released, after Loras pleaded guilty to arson and putting people at risk of death over the July 4th, 2024 torching of the entrance of a local synagogue.

The fire was sparked while some 20 congregants of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation were inside celebrating the Sabbath at the time of the arson.

No one was injured, but the synagogue sustained tens of thousands of dollars in damages.

Loras was later arrested and held in solitary confinement for 134 days, which Thomas slammed as “nothing short of disgraceful.”

While Thomas sentenced Loras to four months in prison for the arson, Loras’ time in jail before and during the trial was taken into consideration. Since it exceeded the 120-day sentence, he was released Monday.

Magistrate Thomas noted that Loras, who was homeless at the time of the arson, had a history of mental illness, including schizophrenia, and that he had not been taking his required medication when he set fire to the synagogue.

As part of the sentence, Loras has been ordered to undergo treatment for his condition for the next 20 months, and to perform community service.

During the trial, Loras claimed he was unaware that the building he was setting fire to was a Jewish house of worship, a claim Thomas relied on in part for his assertion that antisemitism played no part in the incident.

“This is an entirely different case to how it was considered, what it represented. He’s a man who’s clearly been very unwell and unwell for a long time,” Thomas said.

“It is in the community’s long-term interests that there be a smooth transition for Mr. Loras back into the community and integration with the non-custodial mental health system.”

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34-year-old Sydney man charged with sparking fire at a Melbourne synagogue as authorities mull terrorism charges.

By World Israel News Staff

Australian authorities have arrested and indicted a man suspected of setting fire to a Melbourne synagogue last Friday.

On Friday, three separate incidents were reported against Jewish targets in the city.

While some two dozen people gathered for the Sabbath evening meal Friday night, an arsonist poured flammable liquid on the entrance of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation synagogue, set the entrance on fire, then fled.

All of those present in the building at the time were able to escape via a back door, though the synagogue suffered fire damage before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze.

Separately, an Israeli-owned restaurant, Miznon, was attacked by a mob of roughly 20 protesters who trashed the eatery in Melbourne’s central business district.

One suspect linked to the restaurant attack, a 28-year-old man, was arrested and later released.

Officers from the Victoria Police’s Counter Terrorism Security Investigation Unit assigned to probe the synagogue arson arrested a suspect at 8:15 p.m. Saturday in the Melbourne central business district.

“It is alleged the man was seen walking through Parliament Gardens before entering the grounds of the synagogue on Albert Street on 4 July about 8pm,” Victoria Police said after the arrest.

“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene.”

After being taken into custody and interrogated, the suspect was charged with reckless endangerment charges, property damage, and possession of a controlled weapon.

The suspect has been identified as 34-year-old Angelo Loras, a resident of Toongabbie outside Sydney. On social media, Loras described himself as Iranian.

Victoria Police said they are investigating whether the attack can be construed by prosecutors as an act of terrorism.

“Detectives will continue to examine the intent and ideology of the person charged to determine if the incident is in fact terrorism.”

In a third incident reported in Melbourne, multiple cars were vandalized with antisemitic graffiti and set on fire.

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Police launch investigation after Jerusalem synagogue, linked to former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, vandalized and torched, destroying prayer books.

By World Israel News Staff

A synagogue in central Jerusalem was vandalized and torched in an apparent act of arson early Sunday morning.

Before dawn Sunday, a report was received at the Jerusalem police hotline regarding a fire at a synagogue in the Sanhedria neighborhood of the capital.

The synagogue, Ohr Haviv, is linked to former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, who serves as its spiritual leader.

Police officers from the Lev HaBira station were dispatched to the scene, along with firefighting and rescue teams who worked to extinguish the fire.

“As a result of the fire, damage was caused at the site, but there were no injuries,” a police spokesperson said.

Prayer books and other holy texts were found vandalized and burned.

However, fire department officials said that most of the synagogue’s holy books were spared.

“We arrived at the scene within minutes and identified smoke seeping through the roof,” said Fire Chief Oren Avrahami, who directed firefighting efforts at the scene.

“We acted quickly to contain the fire and prevent damage to the holy books. The incident concluded without injuries and with minimal damage to property.”

Authorities say that in addition to the burning of the synagogue, a nearby apartment was vandalized, with a cross drawn on the front door.

Cross spray painted on front door near torched synagogue in Jerusalem, June 8, 2025. (Police spokesperson)

A police investigation into the incident has been opened, with the Shin Bet internal security agency also taking part in the probe.

“I am shocked by the horrific scenes of the fire and the spray-painting of swastikas at the synagogue of the Chief Sephardic Rabbi, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Shas movement,” said National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit).

“This is a disturbing incident with severe antisemitic overtones. Especially in the Jewish state, there must be zero tolerance for antisemitic incidents!”

Video footage taken from the synagogue’s security camera shows a lone arsonist moving through the house of worship at the time of the incident.

The post Ex-chief rabbi’s Jerusalem synagogue torched by arsonist appeared first on World Israel News.

The attack was the second time a Jewish target was attacked during Passover in Kryvyi Rih.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Unknown vandals threw a Molotov cocktail at a synagogue in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine on Saturday night as the Jewish community celebrated the last days of Passover.

“This was a direct attack on the Jewish community,” the city’s Jewish spiritual leader, Chabad Rabbi Liron Edri, told The Jerusalem Post newspaper. “Thankfully, the reinforced windows held up, and the firebomb didn’t make it inside. But the message was loud and clear.”

Chabad’s security arm and the Jewish Agency had funded security upgrades to the building, which included shatter-resistant windows and an alarm network that sent authorities quickly to the site to extinguish the flames and inspect the damage.

Security cameras installed outside caught the attack on video, and the police “promised to investigate and bring those responsible to justice,” Edri said.

He noted that this was the second time during the week-long holiday that Jewish assets were struck, as days earlier vandals had spray painted over Jewish symbols on a community vehicle and spilled chemicals over the car.

“The vandalism was clearly targeted,” Edri said. “There was nothing random about it.” 

This was not the first time Jewish property has been attacked during a holiday period in Ukraine.

During the past Hanukkah, the door of a synagogue in Mykolaiv was set ablaze, and a day later, a young man cut the power wire leading to a public electric menorah in the city, extinguishing it.

It was reported at the time that the incidents occurred after Katya Chily, a popular singer, posted to Facebook that “a symbol of Ukrainian Christmas should be installed in the center of the capital, not ‘symbols of other peoples.’”

The largest menorah in Europe had been installed in Kyiv for the holiday, prompting Chily’s post.

There were many antisemitic comments following her remarks, but they were also answered by many who defended their Jewish brethren.

The Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine, which monitors manifestations of antisemitism in the country, reported in January that hate incidents have actually dropped to the low single digits in each of the last three years.

The public has also overwhelmingly supported Israel after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 that set off the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

“Based on the data from this monitoring, we can confidently say that we in Ukraine are currently experiencing the best of times,” said one community representative. “But this, of course, does not mean that we do not have problems. There are some.”

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The building, which was severely damaged, also served as a Jewish community center and kosher grocery.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

A suspect was arrested Thursday for an arson attack on a combined synagogue and Jewish community center in Casa Grande, Arizona, earlier in the week.

Everardo Gregorio, 30, was identified from security footage from inside the Kahal Chasidim Jewish Community Center and nearby businesses that detectives reviewed after the fire broke out before dawn last Monday.

The videos showed him “walking on and around the property three different times throughout the night,” the police report said.

The last time he was seen was just three minutes before smoke began emanating from the building.

According to the local Fox 10 News, when the authorities arrested the local man, “he was wearing the same brand and style of sandals seen on the video.”

The suspect, who has had run-ins with the law in the past, denied all involvement in the incident, saying he was asleep at the time “and had nothing to do with it,” the report said.

The one-floor building, which also contained a kosher grocery store and classrooms, had just been renovated, according to local reports.

Both the interior and the exterior of the building were severely damaged by the flames, which firefighters battled for some two hours before it was successfully extinguished.

An ABC affiliate reported that the “owner” of the property said that the synagogue’s Torah scroll was not inside at the time, a fact that he had called “a blessing.”

The head of the Center, Rabbi Mendy Deitsch, told Yeshiva World News, “We’re devastated, but we’re not broken. This is a place of unity and strength, and we will rebuild.”

The Jewish community has received “an outpouring of support from neighbors and friends across Casa Grande,” the rabbi said. “It’s a testament to the spirit here.”

“This is a setback, but it’s not the end,” he added. “We’ll come back stronger.”

The community numbers only about 500 people, most of them ultra-Orthodox families who reportedly only recently came to the small city of 64,000 located about halfway between Phoenix and Tucson, the state’s two biggest population centers.

The police have yet to provide a motive for the attack, and Gregorio is so far only accused of felony arson of an occupied structure.

His next court appearance is set for Friday.

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Police discover ‘incendiary device’ used in firebombing attack on Montreal synagogue.

By World Israel News Staff

A synagogue in Montreal, Canada, was damaged in an antisemitic arson attack overnight Wednesday, marking the second time in 13 months that the Jewish institution has been targeted.

No one was hurt in the attack.

At around 3 a.m., a fire was reported at Congregation Beth Tikvah in the heavily Jewish West Island neighborhood.

According to a New York Post report, the front window of the synagogue had been smashed.

Police were said to have found “some kind of incendiary device” inside the synagogue, which apparently had been used to start the fire.

A Montreal police spokesman said in a media statement that witnesses had seen a suspect running away shortly after the explosion.

Despite the damage and ongoing fires, the synagogue refused to turn away worshippers.

“We were able to recite the morning prayers in an abbreviated way,” Rabbi Mordecai Zeitz told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“We did not close, even if we had to go outside to avoid the fires on the inside. But we had the fires of Jewish identity and Jewish pride very much front and center, in front of the charred doors of the synagogue,” he added.

In November 2023, the synagogue was targeted by a similar Molotov cocktail attack.

No arrests were made.

This most recent attack serves as a “terrifying reminder that Montreal is increasingly unsafe for Jewish people,” said Henry Topas, Congregation Beth Tikvah cantor and B’nai Brith Canada’s regional director for Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

“This is the result of the failure of leaders at all levels to hold accountable those responsible for the hate and violence that is infesting Canadian society,” Topas added.

“Let’s not mince words: This is a stark reminder of what happens when politicians fail to call out antisemitism and prevent the escalation of violence on our streets,” Federation CJA president and CEO Yair Szlak said.

“We call on Mayor Plante to act immediately to crack down on the unacceptable rise in antisemitism in Montreal. Our community is outraged and so should all Quebec citizens. We expect the authorities to treat this incident with the highest level of care and consider all likely motives. Enough is enough.”

The post Montreal synagogue firebombed for second time in a year appeared first on World Israel News.

Anthony Albanese was told his words were ‘cheap and late’ after announcing government support for rebuilding Adass Israel.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was jeered during his visit to a firebombed synagogue in Melbourne Tuesday in which he promised financial support for rebuilding the seriously damaged building.

Hecklers called out that his words were “cheap and late” in coming to express solidarity four days after the Friday arson attack.

At least one man referred to Albanese having played tennis the next day, apparently showing indifference to their plight. Some in the crowd pointed to his toleration of antisemitic speech, with one heard shouting, “Does the prime minister condemn calls for an intifada against Jews?” and another yelling, “Go live in Gaza.”

One man told The Chronicle that while it was “great” that the prime minister had come, “his visit misses the mark. Australia’s Jewish community don’t want to live behind walls, or armed guards or under surveillance…. What we should be doing is living together harmoniously with the rest of Australia as we have for hundreds of years.”

“The prime minister must address those that are inciting hate with their words,” he continued, and that those “here on visas, look to cancel those visas and deport them. That’s the only way to restore harmony in our country.”

As he stood outside the gutted building with his Hasidic hosts, wearing a knitted skullcap, he called out the attack as “an act of terrorism that was fueled by antisemitism, and it was stoked by hatred.”

He told the gathered journalists that the government would provide “whatever support is necessary financially, [and] make sure that those who perpetrated this evil crime do not receive any benefits, that they get the message that Australia is not a country that will tolerate such an act.”

There has been an explosion of anti-Israel demonstrations and antisemitic incidents in Australia and worlwide, against both people and property, since October 7, 2023, when Gazan terrorists led an invasion of Israeli communities, massacred 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages, all of which sparked the Israel-Hamas war.

Albanese has often been criticized for his lack of support for both Australia’s Jewish community and Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu going so far as to charge after the most recent incident that “sadly, this deplorable act cannot be viewed in isolation from the Labor government’s extreme anti-Israeli stance.” The Israeli leader noted Australia’s support of the recent United Nations resolution calling on Israel to leave what it terms “Occupied Palestinian territory” in eastern Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and its refusal to grant a visa to former justice minister Ayelet Shaked because she opposed a Palestinian state.

The Albanese government rejected the charge.

The prime minister announced the formation of a federal counter-antisemitism task force on Monday, hours after the Adass Israel attack was officially declared a “likely terrorist incident” following “significant progress” in the investigation, the police said.

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Security guards foil arson attempt as local man arrested for pouring gasoline over synagogue in Zurich.

By World Israel News Staff

An attempt to set fire to a synagogue in Switzerland’s largest city was foiled over the weekend, as security guards assigned to the house of worship apprehended a man pouring gasoline on the building’s entrance.

The incident occurred in Zurich on late Saturday afternoon, when security guards assigned to the synagogue spotted a man dousing the entrance of the building with gasoline.

Surprised, the suspect fled on foot.

Police were notified and a manhunt launched for the suspect, who was ultimately arrested early Sunday morning.

“According to current information, a man poured gasoline outside the synagogue on Erikastrasse in Zurich last night. He was immediately detected by security personnel and fled,” Jonathan Kreutner, the secretary-general of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG), told Swiss media outlets.

According to the preliminary findings of an investigation by Zurich police,   the 32-year-old Swiss national suspected in the arson attempt “acted alone, with no extremist motives identified.”

Authorities noted that the suspect “appears to be mentally disturbed,” and that there is currently no evidence he was motivated by any extremist ideology, right-wing or left-wing, or by radical Islam.

“The alleged perpetrator, likely suffering from mental instability, a 32-year-old Swiss citizen, was apprehended by Zurich police during the night,” local police said in a statement.

“The forensic institute conducted an examination of evidence at the crime scene, and the Zurich Cantonal Police have since taken over the case.”

Local council member Yehuda Spielman said that the suspect had visited at least one other Jewish institution in the city on the day of the attempted arson attack, and earlier in the week.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a synagogue was targeted,” Spielman said. “This wasn’t a random attack –footage shows the suspect had previously been in the neighborhood.”

The post Swiss synagogue doused with gasoline in apparent arson attempt appeared first on World Israel News.

Synagogue, community center destroyed by arsonist in southwest Florida.

By World Israel News Staff

A synagogue and Jewish community center in southwestern Florida were destroyed over the weekend, after an arsonist set fire to the property.

Emergency dispatchers were notified of a fire on the 1300 block of East Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale at approximately 7:20 a.m. this past Saturday, after locals spotted a blaze in the building, which houses the Las Olas Chabad Jewish Center and adjoining synagogue.

The building was heavily damaged in the fire, and a van belonging to the local rabbi, Chaim Slavaticki, was destroyed.

Fort Lauderdale police located and apprehended the suspected arsonist, who was later identified as 50-year-old Scott Hannaford.

Police have obtained security camera footage from the incident, showing Hannaford lighting the rabbi’s van on fire, then attempting to spark a second fire in the Chabad center.

In the end, while Hannaford was unsuccessful in his attempts to spark a second fire, the blaze from the rabbi’s van eventually spread to the community center’s kitchen, causing significant damage.

Hannaford was transferred to the Broward Sheriff’s Office and charged with two counts of arson, criminal mischief, and drug possession, after he was found to be in possession of cocaine.

According to an initial investigation into the incident, local authorities say Hannaford appears to be mentally ill, adding that there is no evidence at this point to suggest that the arson constituted a hate crime.

Rabbi Slavaticki told WTVJ that he received a knock at the door Saturday morning and was informed of the blaze.

“Screaming fire at the center, fire at the center and I rushed over,” Slavaticki said. “Everything is still fresh, a lot of emotions.”

“We have to look at the positive, and it’s a time to reflect on unity and coming together and continuing to be a light to the community.”

In a statement released Sunday night, the Chabad center appeared to dispute police claims that the arson did not seem to be a hate crime.

“On Shabbat morning at 7 AM, The Las Olas Chabad Jewish Center deliberately and intentionally set aflame,” the center’s Facebook account wrote.

“It was a clearly targeted attack on our facility and our Community.”

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Arson comes less than a year after antisemitic terror attack at Jewish pilgrimage site killed five, additional synagogue torched.

By World Israel News Staff

Unknown assailants attempted to torch a historical synagogue in Sfax, Tunisia, on Sunday, in an apparent antisemitic arson attack.

The fire itself was contained to the courtyard of the Edmond Azria Synagogue, with no injuries reported.

According to local news outlet, a dozen palm trees outside of the building were burned and the synagogue’s windows were damaged.

הנאצים בתוניסיה שרפו חצר בית הכנסת בעיר ספאקס.
בית הכנסת זה כמה שנים שאינו פעיל. כמעט אין אף יהודי אחד שם.@kaisos1987 pic.twitter.com/OJyrBYvW0z

— איתן itan ايتان (@ITIL10071982) February 26, 2024

“This incident does not define the legacy of the Synagogue,” wrote Isaac Choua, a board member of the Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America, wrote on X.

“With no Jewish community currently in Sfax, this synagogue serves as a vital link to a rich Jewish past—a beautiful echo of the Great Synagogue of Tunis, reflecting a spirit of beauty, strength, and unity that transcends its physical bounds.”

Choua added that we should “not know Edmond Azria Synagogue for this act of hatred but as a testament to the enduring legacy of Jewish life.”

The attack comes after another synagogue was torched in October 2023, shortly after the Hamas massacres which triggered the current conflict.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian rioters descended upon the Al Hammah synagogue in central Tunisia, torching the building, then putting up Palestinian flags in the ruins.

In May 2023, five people were murdered in an antisemitic terror attack. a gunman targeted Jewish pilgrims visiting a synagogue on the nearby Tunisian island of Djerba.

“In Djerba, the three religions [Jews, Muslims and Christians] used to coexist in peace, but because of the latest conflict things have changed and the danger for the Jewish population is tangible,” David Gerbi, a Jewish physician of Tunisian origin, told the Times of Israel.

“Locals tell me that it is not easy to change your life and emigrate to Israel, where the cost of living is very high, where there is war, and elderly people will struggle to adapt to a new reality. But perhaps this is, in the end, the best choice,” he added.

The post ‘Act of hatred’ – Arson at ancient Tunisian synagogue appeared first on World Israel News.

The attackers issued a statement saying that every Israeli Jew and rabbi is a target and that they would burn down many more synagogues in other countries as well.

By The Algemeiner Staff

A synagogue in Yerevan, Armenia was set on fire on Wednesday evening in an antisemitic arson attack, the second incident targeting the city’s Jewish community since last month, according to several reports and video circulating on social media.

The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) claimed responsibility for attacking the Mordechai Navi Synagogue, the only Jewish place of worship operating in the country, Azerbaijani media and other sources reported.

Azerbaijani Ambassador to Germany Nasimi Aghayev was among those who shared footage of the synagogue attack on social media.

On Oct. 3, the synagogue was vandalized and targeted with a Molotov cocktail in an antisemitic act for which ASALA — a Marxist-Leninist group designated as a terrorist organization by the US State Department in 1989 — also claimed responsibility.

The attackers issued a statement saying, “The Jews are the enemies of the Armenian nation, complicit in Turkish crimes and the regime of [Azerbaijan President Ilhan] Aliyev. The Jewish state provides weapons to Aliyev’s criminal regime, and Jews from America and Europe actively support him. Turkey, Aliyev’s regime, and the Jews are the sworn enemies of the Armenian state and people.”

The group added: “If Jewish rabbis in the United States and Europe continue to support Aliyev’s regime, we will continue to burn their synagogues in other countries. Every rabbi will be a target for us. No Israeli Jew will feel safe in these countries.”

Armenia and Azerbaijan share a border and have a long history of conflict. Israel and Azerbaijan have engaged in close cooperation, including weapons sales, in recent years.

Armenia is home to about 500-1,000 Jews, mostly of Ashkenazi origin, localized in the capital of Yerevan, according to World Jewish Congress estimates.

After Wednesday’s incident, ASALA reportedly threatened to continue attacks against the Jewish community outside of Armenia. Israeli media outlets reported that the group issued a statement linking the latest arson to the war in Gaza, expressing “solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements against Zionism.”

ASALA, arguably the best-known of the Armenian militant groups formed during the last century, was active in the 1970s through the 1990s, but has been less visible since. The organization, which was responsible for several terrorist attacks and assassinations, was armed and trained by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). During the 1980s, ASALA terrorists trained with Palestinian factions in Lebanon, developing ties with the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a group within the PLO.

This week’s targeting of an Armenian synagogue came as countries around the world, especially in the US and Europe, have experienced a historic spike in antisemitic incidents following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.

“Armenia’s only synagogue last night was burned down in an antisemitic attack,” tweeted the National Jewish Assembly in the UK. “Jews around the world are feeling less and less safe every day because of actions like this. We are seeing people be bystanders to antisemitic attacks.”

Wednesday night’s arson attack was reminiscent of a similar incident in Tunisia last month, when hundreds of Tunisians reportedly burnt the el-Hamma Synagogue in the Gabès Governorate.

The post The only synagogue in Armenia set on fire appeared first on World Israel News.