Hafez Kondus was indicted for hurling a stun grenade on a building that houses a synagogue and the Shirat Moshe Yeshiva in Jaffa (pictured). Photo: Google Maps.

JNS.org – A former Jaffa resident and former Palestinian security prisoner was indicted Thursday before the Tel Aviv District Court for throwing a stun grenade into one of the Jaffa’s synagogues.

Hafez Kondus, 57, who had served a 28-year prison sentence, was indicted for weapons offenses and racially motivated aggression for hurling a stun grenade on a building that houses a synagogue and the Shirat Moshe yeshiva. He was arrested following a joint Shin Bet and Israel Police investigation into the incident, which took place three weeks ago in the evening hours.

Riding a scooter, Kondus threw the grenade inside the building without releasing the safety pin, and then drove off. Prosecutors said they have amassed considerable evidence with which to convict Kondus, including video footage and his full confession to committing the crime.

The prosecution, which requested that Kondus be remanded in custody until the conclusion of the legal proceedings in his matter, said he committed the crimes “due to his hostility toward all knitted-kippah wearing Jews, as he deems them, according to his world view, ‘settlers’ who he believes have taken control over parts of the country and intend to damage the fabric of the city.”

According to Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, “This dangerous act, against what Kondus believed to be an expression of a plan to Judaize Jaffa, could have hurt the existing social fabric between Jews and Arabs in the city.”

Kondus was released from prison in 2012 after serving nearly three decades for security-related offenses including attempted murder, illegal arms trade, and being a member of the armed terrorist wing of Fatah, among other crimes.