Photo of extremist Yinon Reuveni (right) and alleged accomplice Yehuda Asraf in custody.
21st Century Wire
On Monday, an Israeli court has convicted an Israeli Jewish extremist for the 2015 arson in the Holy Land.
Nazareth District Court convicted 22-year-old Jewish extremist Yinon Reuveni for carrying the attack against a church in Tabgha in northern occupied Palestine.
The Church of the Multiplication of the “Loaves and Fish,” is where Jesus is said to have performed the miracle of feeding 5,000 followers in the hillside on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, as detailed in the New Testament of the bread and fish to his followers.
A priest inspecting damage caused to Church in Tabgha (Basel Awidat/Flash90)
Aside from severe damage done to the ancient holy site, Reuveni’s arson attack also destroyed a number rare Christian prayer books.
Reuveni’s gang also spray-painted graffiti on the church walls in Hebrew which read, “false idols will be eliminated.”
The Times of Israel added:
“In their 2015 indictment, the Shin Bet [Israeli Police, Special Branch] said that Reuveni, currently a resident of the southern town of Ofakim, had been banished from the West Bank on several occasions and is a suspect in a series of hate crimes, including the February 2015 arson attack at Jerusalem’s Dormition Abbey.”
“Asraf, the Shin Bet said, had been living on an illegal outpost and is active in extremist Jewish circles.”
However, Judge George Azulay acquitted Reuveni’s apparent accomplice in the hate attack, 21-year-old Yehuda Asraf.
Asraf wasn’t the only co-conspirator involved, as the Times adds, “A third suspect, Moshe Orbach, was charged with writing and distributing a document detailing the “necessity” of attacking non-Jewish property and people as well as laying out practical advice on how to do so. He is still awaiting trial.”
Sentencing has been set for September. (AP)
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