Jewish leaders around the world have condemned a suspected arson attack on a church in northern Israel where Jesus was supposed to have fed the “five thousand” with fish and bread.

Hebrew graffiti found on a wall suggested Jewish extremists may have been behind the attack on the Roman Catholic church of Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee on Thursday.

Board of Deputies Senior Vice Pesident Richard Verber said: “The Board unreservedly condemns the heinous arson attack against the church in Tabgha associated by Christians with the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. Such hatred and disrespect of faith should have no place in Israel, the Holy Land to the three Abrahamic faiths. The Board welcomes the Israeli government's pledge to apprehend the perpetrators and that they should meet the full force of the law.”

Conference of European Rabbis President Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt said: "The continuous attacks against houses of worship, in the state of Israel, undermines the very foundation the Jewish State was built on. The CER calls on the Israeli police to use all of its resources to arrest and punish these criminals."