The grave of David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, was defaced with swastikas by vandals Monday night, and police suspect a gang of young religious zealots, calling themselves Keshet, as the perpetrators.
The grave near Sde Boker, the Negev kibbutz where Ben-Gurion made his home, is a national shrine.
A caretaker discovered it daubed with swastikas and the spray-painted words, “Come find us. We’ve reached over here. Keshet.”
The grave of Paula Ben-Gurion, the prime minister’s widow who was buried alongside him, was untouched.
Kibbutz officials said this was the first time Ben-Gurion’s grave had been desecrated.
Nine alleged members of Keshet were taken into custody over the weekend on unrelated charges.
They are suspected of a series of small explosions and attempted bombings of news kiosks that sold non-Orthodox newspapers near the religious township of Bnei Brak.
A tenth man arrested was released Sunday.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
