Vandals sprayed anti-Christian graffiti on Jerusalem’s Monastery of the Cross and at an Armenian cemetery overnight, AFP reports.
The attacks drew a strong condemnation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who expressed “disgust” over the incidents, his office said.
Outside the Monastery of the Cross near the Israeli parliament, vandals also slashed the tyres of three cars belonging to staff, and wrote “price tag” and “Happy Hanukkah” the Jewish holiday now being observed by Israelis.
Father Claudius, the monastery’s abbot, said he had noticed the graffiti at 4:30 am (0230 GMT) when he got up to pray.
“This is the seventh time this has happened,” he told reporters at the scene, saying that if the vandals had simply knocked on the door he would have invited them in for tea to talk to them about his faith.
“The Jewish values by which we were raised, and by which we raise our children, firmly reject such actions,” PM Netanyahu said in the statement.
“Freedom of worship for all religions in Israel will be preserved and we will take legal action against the immoral people who committed these crimes.”
