A Jewish Israeli man who was detained two weeks ago for spray-painting “There’s a Holocaust in Gaza” on the Western Wall was re-arrested by police on Monday after tagging the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with similar graffiti.
The suspect, a 27-year-old Jerusalem resident, was arrested overnight on Monday after police received a report of a suspicious person wandering the Old City, according to Israel’s Channel 12 broadcaster.
Officers located the suspect near the Christian holy site, carrying a paint canister. During their searches of the area, the officers discovered graffiti inside the church with the inscription in Hebrew, “There is a Holocaust in Gaza.”
The suspect was set to be brought before a court later on Tuesday, where police said they would ask for an extension of his remand, according to Channel 12.
Approximately two weeks before, the suspect defaced the Western Wall in the area of the “Ezrat Yisrael” egalitarian prayer space as well as the outer walls of the city’s Great Synagogue with the same graffiti. Israeli officials from across the political spectrum condemned the vandalism.
The paint was swiftly removed from the stones by the Israel Antiquities Authority’s conservation team, the IAA said.
After the suspect admitted to vandalizing the holy site, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court decided to release him for psychological treatment.
Channel 12 said his family contacted the office of Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef and informed him that the suspect was dealing with serious mental health problems and had a history of hospitalization.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered as Christianity’s holiest site, is believed by many Christians to encompass both Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified, and the tomb from which he is said to have risen.
