Surveillance footage and the way the flames spread suggest the Israeli flag may have been targeted first.
By Shula Rosen
Federal authorities are assisting police in Zionsville, Indiana, as they investigate whether antisemitism was a motive in a suspected arson attack in which an Israeli flag was apparently ignited, causing more than $150,000 in damage to a historic building.
Firefighters responded to 195 S. Main Street at about 1:41 a.m. Friday, July 10, and extinguished the blaze in approximately 15 minutes. No one was injured, and the building, a former antique shop in Zionsville’s historic commercial district, was unoccupied.
Investigators are examining evidence indicating that someone intentionally set fire to an Israeli flag displayed outside the property alongside an American flag.
Surveillance footage and the way the flames spread suggest the Israeli flag may have been targeted first, Zionsville Mayor John Stehr said.
“It breaks my heart. This isn’t the people that I know in Zionsville. This doesn’t define Zionsville,” Stehr said.
The Zionsville Police Department is leading the case with FBI assistance.
Officials have not reached a final conclusion on the motive, and police had not publicly named a suspect as of Monday.
The Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council and other Jewish organizations said they were “deeply concerned” that the Israeli and American flags may have been deliberately targeted and condemned the incident as an apparent attempt at intimidation.
Members of central Indiana’s Jewish community gathered Sunday outside the fire-damaged property with Israeli and American flags to denounce antisemitism and political violence.
“The Founding Fathers founded a country where we have the ability to resolve differences among each other,” rally organizer David Schiller said. “We don’t do it by firebombing homes.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence, a Zionsville resident, called the incident “absolutely despicable.”
“There can be no tolerance in America for antisemitism or political acts of violence,” Pence said.
Republican Indiana Sen. Jim Banks also demanded accountability. “Antisemitism will not be tolerated. Not in Zionsville. Not in Indiana. Not anywhere,” he said.
State Rep. Becky Cash, whose district includes Zionsville, said arson and other crimes cannot be defended as legitimate political speech. Rose-Marie Goodman, who owns a nearby jewelry store with Bob Goodman, said, “Hate is not something we can accept anywhere.”
The Israeli flag had been displayed at the building for approximately three years, local officials said.
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