Mayor Moshe Lion
Mayor Moshe LionHezki Baruch

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion visited the Siach Yisrael synagogue in the Kiryat Yovel neighborhood of the capital Tuesday morning, after it was discovered that the synagogue had been desecrated by vandals overnight.

Vandals broke in to the synagogue Monday night, police say, and cut open the Torah ark, hurling the sacred texts on the floor and trashing a number of prayer books.

“I just came out of the Siach Yisrael synagogue, which is affiliated with the French immigrant community,” Lion told Arutz Sheva.

“I’m horrified by what I saw there. I’ve never seen anything like it. Four Torah scrolls on the floor, ruined, with cleaning liquid dumped on them. To me, this was like murder, and maybe even worse. I hope that the criminals who did this are quickly caught.”

The mayor called for united in the face of the attack on the synagogue.

“The right thing to do is to unify in the wake of this terrible event. Everyone should think about what they can do so that such a thing never happens again, so that this will be the last time. Things like this simply cannot happen in the State of Israel, especially not in Jerusalem, or anywhere else in the world for that matter.”

Video of the interview in Hebrew:

ראש העיר: זה כמו רצח