Jewish leaders decry synagogue attacks

LINCOLNWOOD -- Elected officials and police joined the American Jewish Committee's local leaders Sunday in condemning vandalism at Chicago area synagogues.

Police say vandals who set fire to a Chicago synagogue last month may have sprayed "Death to Israel" on the north suburban Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation on Saturday morning. The synagogue's rabbi, Joel Lehrfield, told a rally Sunday that the graffiti is "an anti-Semitic statement against all Jews and decent human beings."

Emily Soloff, director of the Jewish Committee's Chicago chapter, calls the vandalism "despicable" acts aimed at disrupting a community's sense of security.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating the attacks as hate crimes.