Statue of Yitzhak Rabin defaced with swastika in Tel-Aviv

Intoxicated Israeli suspect found with two knives, wrote ‘Danke 600,000,000’

The defaced statue of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv. (Courtesy of Police Spokesman’s Unit) (photo credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
The defaced statue of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv. (Courtesy of Police Spokesman’s Unit)
(photo credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
An armed Israeli man was arrested Tuesday morning after allegedly defacing a statue of slain former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in downtown Tel Aviv with a swastika and a reference to the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
The unidentified suspect, who police said was intoxicated, was found with two knives and writing materials a couple hundred meters from the monument in Rabin Square at approximately 9 a.m.
Under Rabin’s bust, the words “Danke, 600,000,000” (“Thank you” in German) were scrawled, an incorrect reference to the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
“Police units arrived in the area shortly after the incident took place and found the suspect, who was apparently under the influence of alcohol, nearby with two knives,” said Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
“There was damage caused to the statue due to the graffiti, and the man was taken to the police station where he is being questioned,” he added.