An American vacationer has been arrested after allegedly smashing two second-century Roman statues on the Israel Museum – along with his lawyer claiming he was experiencing a psychological dysfunction referred to as “Jerusalem syndrome”.
Israeli police have mentioned preliminary questioning suggests the Jewish-American suspect destroyed the statues in Jerusalem as a result of he thought-about them to be “idolatrous and opposite to the Torah”.
The Torah is the compilation of the primary 5 books of the Hebrew Bible.
Museum images present the marble head of the goddess Athena knocked off its pedestal onto the ground and a statue of a pagan deity shattered into fragments.
The broken statues have been being restored, museum workers mentioned.
Nick Kaufam, the suspect’s lawyer, has denied the person acted out of non secular fanaticism.
As a substitute, Mr Kaufman mentioned the 40-year-old vacationer was affected by a psychological dysfunction that psychiatrists have labelled “Jerusalem syndrome”.
The situation – a type of disorientation believed to be induced by the non secular magnetism of town, which is sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims – is alleged to trigger international pilgrims to consider they’re figures from the Bible.
Learn extra:
Spectre of a second war in Europe looms large
Nobel Peace Prize awarded to jailed Iranian activist
The defendant has been ordered to endure a psychiatric analysis. Officers didn’t launch his title resulting from a gagging order.
The vandalism late on Thursday raised questions concerning the security of Israel’s priceless collections and stirred concern a couple of rise in assaults on cultural heritage in Jerusalem.
The Israel Museum, with its reveals of archaeology, superb arts, and Jewish artwork and life, described the vandalism as a “troubling and strange occasion” – and mentioned it “condemns all types of violence and hopes such incidents won’t recur”.