Nazi graffiti defaces Jerusalem gravestones

Nazi graffiti was found spray-painted on graves of 12 fallen Israeli soldiers in a Jerusalem military cemetery today.

They were to where a monument to the founder of Zionism was defaced two days earlier, police said.

David Avidar was visiting the grave of his son Roni in the military section of the Mount Herzl national cemetery when he came upon the graffiti, scrawled in Hebrew.

He said: “When I got to the last row of graves, where my son is lying, I saw a black stain on the stone, I thought someone had lit a candle or something. Then I saw, on another grave, a letter. I looked up and saw other letters, spelling “Hitler, the brain” one letter on each grave.”

Extremist Jews who oppose a planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip have been using Holocaust and Nazi slogans to denounce Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and others who support the pullout.