JTA — The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia announced Thursday that it will return an Israeli flag to its facade after two consecutive weeks of vandalism.

The flag, which hangs on an exterior wall of the US Jewish museum with the words “The Weitzman stands with Israel,” was vandalized with red spray paint early Monday morning. It has already been cleaned following a similar incident on August 18.

After the second incident, the museum announced that it was “expediting” plans to swap the flag for a “hostage-focused sign” that had been planned to go up closer to the anniversary of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The move swiftly drew criticism, especially after The Forward ran a story with the headline “Philadelphia Jewish museum won’t rehang Israeli flag now after it was vandalized twice in a week.”

In the comments of an Instagram post by the Weitzman museum announcing the signage swap, one user wrote, “They will see removing the Israeli flag as a victory, even for a message about the hostages.” Another commenter........

© The Times of Israel