The threat of violence by local neo-Nazi groups in Israel has increased dramatically during the Sukkot holiday season with a string of attacks on synagogues around the country.

Israel National News reported that on Saturday a group of neo-Nazis broke into a Haifa synagogue and burned down the community's large sukkah. The attackers also took the synagogues Torah scrolls and marked them with swastikas.

Swastikas and pro-Hitler graffiti have also been scrawled on synagogues and other public buildings in the coastal town of Ramat Hasharon, the ultra-Orthodox community of Bnei Barak and the Negev town of Dimona.

In perhaps the worst incident of Nazi violence this month, a 70-year-old Israeli woman was seriously beaten by a group of young neo-Nazi's in Haifa on September 17. A local street sweeper who came to her aid was also assaulted.

The attacks have all occurred in the wake of the very public arrest of a neo-Nazi group operating in the central Israel town of Petah Tikva last month.