A Hollywood synagogue was vandalized Thursday night, the second time this summer.
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. A LAPD spokesperson said officers were at the scene on Friday when they received a report of a hate crime.
Footage from the synagogue’s security camera shows two hooded men crossing Melrose Street and approaching the entrance of Kahal Ahavas Yisroel on Thursday night, where one of the men wearing a black hoodie appears to hand a cell phone to the other man wearing a light-colored hoodie. The man in the black hoodie then begins banging on the window with his forearm, pulls an unknown blunt object from his sleeve and uses it to shatter the house of worship’s window.
The man, wearing a light sweatshirt, appears to be recording video of the incident on his cellphone.
Synagogue board member Denis Dror spoke to KCAL News on Sunday and said the men broke a window but did not get inside and no property was stolen.
He said the synagogue had been vandalized a few weeks earlier and that he believed the two incidents were related and motivated by hatred.
“It’s hard to imagine these two incidents happening so close to our building, so it’s hard to say that’s not the case,” Dror told KCAL.
A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson confirmed a hate crime report had been filed the following day, but declined to provide further details about the incident or the current status of the investigation.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, there has been a surge in anti-Semitic hate crimes since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.
In the three months since the attacks, anti-Semitic incidents across the U.S. increased 36 percent, according to the ADL, a group founded in 1913 to “stop the defamation of the Jewish people and ensure justice and fair treatment for all.” Between Oct. 7 of last year and Jan. 7, 2024, there were a total of 3,291 incidents, the group said.
Calls and emails to the synagogue went unanswered.
“We strongly condemn these clear acts of bigotry and the vandalism of a place of worship,” said Husam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles. “Anti-Semitism and hatred in any form should not be tolerated in our community, and we stand in solidarity with the Jewish community against this unacceptable act.”