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.
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.
