Police suspect that the string of fires in shuls in the capital may be the work of a single arsonist operating in the capital. Investigators are unwilling to accept that fires in three different shuls were simply coincidental, but they are now working on the theory that a single attacker was responsible for them all.

The first blaze was in Yeshivat Ohr Chaim in which damage was heavy, including the loss of three Sifrei Torah.

On motzei shabbos, Lag B’Omer, a shul in Mattersdorf was set ablaze and the latest blaze was on Shmuel HaNavi Street, on Sunday. Baruch Hashem, in the last case, fire department dispatchers received a call at 2:30 of smoke emanating from the shul. The rapid response prevented the blaze from spreading. Fire marshals stated that the Shmuel HaNavi blaze was undoubtedly arson.

4:25PM IL: AS WE GO TO PRINT: It appears police have arrested a 15-year-old female in connection with the attack in the Chatam Sofer Shul in Mattersdorf. She told police she set the blaze by the aron kodesh in response to the harassment she feels in her community, deciding to strike something holy to them.

She told police she passed the shul and realized the door was unlocked, so she entered and set the paroches ablaze at the chazan’s position and the aron kodesh.

Police continue the investigation, now seeking if the suspect is tied to the other fires as well, on Shmuel HaNavi Street and the Ohr Chaim Yeshiva.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)