A synagogue in Petach Tikvah was set afire on Shabbat afternoon. The Beit Yaakov synagogue was empty of worshippers at the time of the fire, police said.

An initial investigation indicated that the perpetrator entered the building unnoticed and poured a flammable liquid next to the Holy Ark, where the Torah Scrolls are kept. The arsonist then set the Ark on fire and ran away. The Ark, made of steel, was damaged, but the Torah scrolls inside were safe. However, there was much damage to the rest of the building.

One of the synagogue's veteran congregation members said bitterly that if the attackers had only written "price tag," indicating a possible Jewish nationalist crime, there would have been a media storm over the incident. As it is, he noted, most of the press is not reporting the incident.