A day after a bombing attack near a synagogue in southern France, a Jewish woman reported to French police that a man armed with a knife approached her on a Paris street, threatening to "kill Jews," in another antisemitic incident.
The incident took place on Sunday around 7:30 p.m. in the Charenton-le-Pont suburb of Paris. According to the woman, the man attempted to extort money from her and made threats, claiming his weapon was intended to "kill Jews." Fearing for her safety, she decided to lie about her identity and told him that she was not Jewish.
Later that evening, at 10:50 p.m., Jewish community security personnel reported a man with a knife near a synagogue on the city's Paris Street. Police responded swiftly and arrested the suspect, believed to be the same individual who had confronted the woman earlier. A knife was found in his bag, and another knife was discovered by a local resident stuck in a tree in front of kosher shops on the street.
The French Attorney General’s Office announced that an investigation has been opened into the incidents on charges of "death threats due to religious origin and carrying weapons."
Dr. Racheli Bartz, head of the World Zionist Organization’s Department for Combating Antisemitism, highlighted the alarming rise in antisemitic incidents in France. "The frequency and severity of antisemitic events have reached unprecedented levels in recent decades," Bartz said. "There is an urgent need for immediate and decisive action by governments across the country. In the last 10 months, antisemitic incidents in France have increased by 370% compared to the previous 10 months; this is an epidemic that must be stopped."
Two cars exploded in front of a synagogue in southwest France
(Video: Reuters)
On Saturday night, French police arrested a man suspected of setting fire to a vehicle near the Beit Yaakov synagogue in Le Grand-Motte in the southwest of the country. The suspect, a 33-year-old man of Algerian origin, allegedly set fire to two cars in the synagogue’s parking lot at 8:30 a.m. and placed a gas cylinder in one of them, causing both cars to explode. The explosion caused a fire that engulfed the synagogue’s doors and slightly injured a police officer on duty. Security footage captured the suspect moments before the explosion, wearing a keffiyeh, carrying a Palestinian flag, a gun, and two bottles of yellow liquid.
France’s counterterrorism prosecutor, overseeing the investigation, confirmed that five people, including the rabbi, were inside the synagogue at the time but were unharmed.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that about 200 police officers participated in the search for the suspect. After visiting the scene, Attal praised the quick response of the fire brigades, noting that "a complete tragedy was avoided thanks to the fire brigades who arrived quickly, and due to the fact that there were not many worshipers present at that time in the synagogue."