"Israel Police is taking the entire issue of desecration of
sacred places quite seriously, making all-out efforts to
locate the culprits. The specific complaint regarding the
desecration of the Ohel Shmuel and Neveh David synagogues in
Jerusalem's French Hill is being handled by Police
intelligence within the framework of the Public Order Squad
operating in Jerusalem."
These remarks were made in the Knesset by Internal Security
Minster Shlomo Ben-Ami in response to a parliamentary
question about the desecration of synagogues in the French
Hill neighborhood two weeks ago. The question was raised by
MK Ofer Chagi, who wanted to know the findings of the police
investigation and why, in similar cases, police were less
than aggressive in their investigations.
In the Knesset, Minister Ben-Ami described the report filed
HaRav Halperin, the rav of French Hill, with the Ministry,
regarding the raids on the two synagogues. Concerning the
Neveh David synagogue, police were told: "Torah scrolls were
scattered all over the floor. The contents of the aron
kodesh were desecrated. They broke open the synagogue's
aron and cased damage of NIS 200,000 to the religious
articles."
Minister Ben-Ami told the Knesset that a police van arrived
on the scene at 5 AM on the day of the incident, meeting the
synagogue gabbai. Together with him they examined the
site. Police were told that the vandals had broken into the
synagogue by shattering window panes. The gabbai said,
"Two amplifiers and tzedoko boxes were stolen. The
synagogue wasn't desecrated, and the aron kodesh
wasn't broken into."
Regarding the second synagogue, Ohel Shmuel, Shlomo Ben-Ami
said: "The steel doors of the aron kodesh were smashed
open. One Torah scroll was found beside the door and another
near the aron kodesh. For this reason they weren't
stolen. A silver tray was stolen. An expert in criminal
identification visited the site on the morning of the raids,
but no burglary tools or fingerprints were found."
In his response, the Internal Security Minister said: "With
respect to investigations of crimes involving public affairs
I have recently instituted the practice of holding
deliberations in the Police Department. These deliberations
may be attended by interested public representatives. On the
issue of synagogue desecration, I suggest that an internal
deliberation be held, to be attended by religious
representatives, in order to clarify how the police handles
the entire issue of synagogue desecration, breaking into
synagogues, spraying of graffiti and other related issues. I
will also invite the Chief Commander of the Police to this
meeting to describe in detail what the Police do, what they
don't do and what should be done in such cases."
