Three teenagers have been charged in Jerusalem for allegedly writing "Christians to hell" and other religious hate messages on the walls of a Benedictine abbey and an Orthodox seminary next door.
The teenagers, aged 15 and 16, who cannot be named because of their youth, were indicted in Jerusalem District Court on the charge of religiously-motivated destruction of property, The Times of Israel reported.
Other phrases included "Death to the heathen Christians, the enemies of Israel", "kill the pagans", and "the revenge of the people of Israel is yet to come." There were also pictures of a blood-stained sword and a Star of David.
The Abbey of the Dormition is well-known in Jerusalem as a centre of hospitality and learning. Next to the Cenacle, revered as the site of King David's Tomb and the room of the Last Supper, and just outside Zion Gate, it is also believed to be built on the site where Mary, Mother of Jesus, ended her days on earth.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli lawmakers condemned the incident, the latest in a rising number of anti-Christian hate crimes in Israel. However church leaders feel not enough is being done.
Wadia Abu Nasser, of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops in the Holy Land, told Army Radio: "Despite promises by the government, these incidents continue to take place. If we were to actually count all these incidents, they'd be in the hundreds.
"We have limited resources at our disposal. It's the state's responsibility to not only apprehend these perpetrators, but to make the necessary changes in the education system to educate against this sort of thing."
Israeli nationalist vandals have also attacked mosques and last year the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes in northern Israel was badly damaged by arson.
