Unidentified assailants spray hate slogans praising German poet Guenter Grass, burn Israeli flag. Site manager: Deliberate attempt to conjure up anti-Zionist atmosphere

Unidentified assailants vandalized a heritage site commemorating fallen IDF soldiers on Givat Hatachmosht (Ammunition Hill) in Jerusalem overnight Monday, spraying hate slogans against Zionism and Jews.

One of the graffiti slogans sprayed at the site praised German poet Guenter Grass.

The assailants also removed a large Israeli flag, which was hanging on a 30-meter-high flagpole, and set it on fire.

The director of the site, Maoz Katri, responded to the event, saying the attack left him feeling completely "helpless."

"I don´t remember a case of such severe vandalism. There were minor incidents, but not like this one. This seems like a deliberate attempt to conjure up an anti-Zionist atmosphere on the eve of Israel´s Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day," he said, adding that the attack "will not interfere with the scheduled ceremonies."

Katri said that he was angered by the fact that the act was not prevented. "These are slogans in fluent Hebrew. I have no idea who could have done such a thing, but it´s clear that it was done by someone who knows what is going on in the country.

"It seems that there are no moral or other boundaries that prevent such people from passing every possible threshold," he lamented. Last Thursday, two monuments for Fallen IDF soldiers and terror victims were vandalized in Jordan Valley. The assailants sprayed flags of Palestine on the monuments and concealed the names of the fallen.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat strongly condemned the act, and ordered to dispatch municipality cleaning units to the site, in order to remove the slogans and allow the memorial ceremonies to take place as scheduled. (Copyright 2012 © Yedioth Internet 04/23/12)