Set fire to shull; "They mocked me and I wanted to avenge"

Even veteran policemen at the station in Kiryat Malachi of Lachish district say they "do not remember such a bizarre scene and event" - a man ignited a part of a synagogue adjacent to a Yeshiva where he resides, was arrested while splashing in the waters of the nearby mikveh for pleasure. And what did he have to say in his defense after he was arrested? "My friends made fun of me and so I wanted to get back at them".

During the morning of the second day of Rosh Hashanah, it was reported to the 100 police hotline in the southern province of a man who ignited a synagogue which also serves as a yeshiva on San Diego Street of Kiryat Malachi.

Police patrol officers of Kiryat Malachi and a fire fighting team arrived at the scene and found a man in the waters of the mikveh adjacent to the synagogue wearing a robe and sunglasses. The suspect refused to cooperate with the police who arrived at the scene and did not reply to their questions.

At the same time the officers identified in the synagogue and outside a lot of damage. "At the entrance, we noticed a burned door, an upside down bench and blackened floor. In the adjacent mikveh we identified other items that appear burned and the suspect himself. We drew him out of the mikveh water, arrested him and took him to the station," says Sergeant Major Niran Attia, police patrolman in Kiryat Malachi who was present during the incident and arrested the suspect.

The suspect (age 39 who claimed to have lived there) was arrested and taken to the Lachish district police station for questioning. During interrogation he admitted that he ignited and damaged the synagogue on purpose. When asked what he was doing he said: 'I live in the yeshiva adjacent to the synagogue. People from the yeshiva upset me and I then took a rag mop and extra cables and lit the door of the synagogue and other objects with a lighter".

In the evening of the same day he was arrested, he was brought for a remand hearing at the Magistrates Court in Ashkelon. Today a prosecutor's statement was filed against him at the Ashkelon Magistrate's Court, and at this time he is brought to extend his detention. In the coming days, the Southern District Attorney's Office is expected to file charges against the suspect in respect of: arson and damage to property.

Photo: Police Department spokesman.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!