US Jewish groups are among those supporting an Israeli government crackdown on Jewish extremists after a wave of hate crimes in recent weeks. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, or JCPA, specifically condemned comments by one extremist leader who used passages from the Torah to justify arson against churches. In June, one of the most popular Christian pilgrimage sites, the Church of the Fishes and Loaves in Galilee, was severely damaged by arson. The JCPA called such actions “a complete perversion” of Jewish values.