Tel Aviv - A 22-year-old Jewish extremist was found guilty on
Monday of carrying out an arson attack two years ago at a famed
4th-Century church in northern Israel, local media reported.
The Times of Israel said that a second, 21-year-old suspect was found
not guilty in the June 2015 attack on the Church of the
Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish at Tabgha on the northern shore
of the Sea of Galilee.
A sentence for the arsonist is expected at a later date, the
newspaper said.
The arson attack caused damages of around 1.3 million euros (1.5
million dollars), and the renovation work on the church took eight
months to complete. Israel contributed about 394,000 dollars towards
the reconstruction.
A nun surveys heavy damage at the Church of the Multiplication after a fire broke out in the middle of the night near the Sea of Galilee in Tabgha, Israel. Picture: Ariel Schalit/Reuters
The church has a mosaic of bread and fish on the floor, which is
thought to mark the blessing by Jesus Christ of a small quantity of
food that then miraculously multiplied - hence the church's name - to
feed the crowd that had gathered to hear him preach.