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Israel Makes Arrests in Connection to Church of Loaves and Fishes Arson

Landmark was graffitied and ravaged by fire in June

by
Jonathan Zalman
July 13, 2015
Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
Firemen spray water on debris at a room located on the complex of the Church of the Multiplication in northern Israel, June 18, 2015. Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
Firemen spray water on debris at a room located on the complex of the Church of the Multiplication in northern Israel, June 18, 2015. Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images

Three people were arrested on Sunday in suspicion of setting fire to the complex of the Catholic Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fish in Northern Israel on June 18, reported Haaretz. At the time, two people suffered from smoke inhalation, but the church, which was “built upon the spot Jesus is said to have miraculously fed a crowd of 5,000 people,” reported Tablet contributor Jas Chana, was ravaged. The arsonist(s) also graffitied “false idols will be smashed.”

At the time, 16 Yeshiva students were arrested but later released due to insufficient evidence. Haaretz has reported that Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security unit, questioned the suspects on Sunday, and that more arrests are expected to follow.

Jonathan Zalman is a writer and teacher based in Brooklyn.