An Israel graffiti dispute has erupted after an anti-war slogan condemning Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza appeared on the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the holiest site in Judaism, provoking outrage across the country’s political spectrum.
The graffiti, written in Hebrew with spray paint on the southern section of the Wall, read: “A Holocaust is happening in Gaza.” It was located in a more secluded prayer area where Jewish worshippers gather regardless of gender, unlike the main section of the Wall.
Earlier in the day, graffiti with the same slogan was also found on the façade of Jerusalem’s Great Synagogue, with an additional Hebrew phrase stating: “Everything you publish is a lie.”
Police announced yesterday that they had arrested a 27-year-old Jerusalem resident suspected of carrying out the act. He is expected to appear in court later today, with authorities seeking to extend his detention.
Located in East Jerusalem, a sector of the Old City that Israel occupies and has annexed, the Western Wall is the last remaining remnant of the Second Temple, destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans.
Western Wall rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz condemned the defacement, saying in a statement that “a sacred site is not a place for protests.”
The graffiti drew unanimous condemnation from politicians. Far-right ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said they were “shocked,” while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the perpetrators “have forgotten what it means to be Jewish.”
Opposition leader and former Defence Minister Benny Gantz called the act “a crime against the entire Jewish people.”
Gilad Kariv, a progressive rabbi and strong supporter of ending the fighting in Gaza, also condemned the graffiti on X (formerly Twitter), calling it “the worst and most repugnant way to raise awareness of the need to end the war.”
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