Jewish Man Attacked in Paris Leaving Shul Friday Night

By Hamodia Staff

A Jewish man was attacked leaving a shul in Paris’s 20^th arrondissement on Friday night and taken to the hospital.

The perpetrator called him a “dirty Jew” before punching and kicking him, and then fled the scene, KAN reported.

On Saturday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on social media that preliminary reports suggest the attack on Friday night was antisemitic.

“Everything is being done to find the perpetrator of this unspeakable act,” Darmanin wrote, adding that police have increased surveillance of areas “frequented by our Jewish compatriots who must not be the victims of tragedies taking place in the Middle East.”

Darmanin has recently commanded the heads of French police forces to “please proceed with an immediate strengthening of security measures for Jewish community sites,” with a particular emphasis on schools, according to an internal communication reported by the Figaro newspaper.

Darmanin told the officers to ensure the “systematic presence of internal security forces around schools during students’ entries and exits,” and at places of worship during arrival and departure times.

The internal communication cited “the high level of the terrorist threat which continues to weigh on our country and the tensions in the Middle East which have experienced a sudden increase in recent days.”

Antisemitic violence has been a longstanding threat to the Jewish community in France, and incidents have risen in the months since October 7, when Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis, taking hundreds hostage, and sparking an ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.