An Israeli extremist has been jailed for setting fire to a church where Christians believe Jesus performed a miracle.

The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes was set on fire in June 2015. One of the buildings in the compound was gutted by the flames, although the church itself emerged unscathed.

Yinon Reuveni, a 22-year-old Israeli, was sentenced on Tuesday to four years behind bars by the Nazareth District Court. He was convicted of the arson attack back in July, when a co-defendant called Yehuda Asraf was acquitted of aiding Reuveni.

The attack took place at the site north west of the Sea of Galilee, where Christians believe Jesus performed the miracle of loaves and fish.

The court heard that Reuveni had also daubed the church’s walls with a quote from the Aleinu prayer, stating: “Their gods will be destroyed.”

According to the Israel Security Agency Shin Bet, Reuveni was a member of a radical Jewish “organisation which... has the goal of uprooting the foundations of democratic rule in the State of Israel”.

Reuveni was also ordered to pay 50,000 shekels (£10,570) in compensation to the church.

At his sentencing, the court said it wanted to emphasise that ideological crimes that including harming a religious institution inflict “damage beyond the damage to property which, heaven forbid, could lead to the loss of life and to igniting nationalistic fires between different groups”.

Reuveni intends to appeal both the conviction and punishment, according to his lawyer Itamar Ben-Gvir.