Israeli police: American arrested for vandalizing church

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police have arrested an American tourist after he allegedly knocked down and broke a statue of Jesus in a church in Jerusalem’s Old City. Images on social media showed the statue laying horizontally on the floor after apparently being pulled down from a stand at the Chapel of the Flagellation. Police said they made the arrest with the assistance of a church security guard. Video on social media showed a man sitting atop the alleged vandal who is heard saying “you can’t have idols in Jerusalem, this is the holy city.” The incident comes in the first weeks of Israel’s new, far-right government, some of whose ultranationalist, religious members have used inflammatory, anti-Arab rhetoric.