Overview
- The break-in occurred over the weekend when security footage showed at least three youths smashing a window and entering Kol HaNeshamah’s prayer hall in the Baka neighborhood.
- Vandals damaged a work of art and tore down Pride flags that the congregation says stand for inclusion, and synagogue leaders turned the footage over to police.
- Detectives at Jerusalem’s Moriah station have reviewed the surveillance video and collected fingerprints, but police have not publicly identified suspects or announced any arrests.
- Reform leaders and city officials condemned the attack, with lawmaker Gilad Kariv blaming incitement against liberal Jewish streams and Deputy Mayor Yossi Havilio calling it part of a wave of anti‑LGBTQ hate crimes.
- Kol HaNeshamah said it will remain open and inclusive after earlier attacks in 2018 and 2023, and the case could shape whether authorities treat repeated break‑ins of non‑Orthodox and LGBTQ‑friendly sites as hate crimes.