A Palestinian man was arrested today (06.06.2025) after attacking a rabbi with a chair near Paris, an incident reflecting the significant rise in hate crimes in France, including antisemitic attacks. The attack occurred while the rabbi was sitting outside a café in Neuilly-sur-Seine, when the assailant threw a chair at his face and was immediately apprehended. The attacker is a 28-year-old Palestinian born in Rafah on the West Bank, who was residing illegally in France but held documentation allowing him to travel within Normandy, where he was officially registered.
The suspect underwent a psychiatric evaluation, and it was decided that he would undergo treatment, according to the prosecutor’s office. Authorities have launched an investigation into causing bodily harm, confirmed by the prosecution to AFP. The victim, who suffered a head wound, explained this is the second time in one week he has been targeted in a similar incident.
Regarding today’s attack, the victim recounted sitting at a café in a Paris suburb when someone struck him on the head with a chair. “I found myself on the ground, immediately feeling blood,” he said. Initially unsure of what happened, he thought something might have fallen from a window or roof before realizing he had been attacked. “Unfortunately, given my appearance and kippah, I suspected this was the reason, and that is shameful,” he emphasized.
This incident follows another last week in the city of Douville in Normandy, where the rabbi reported being punched in the stomach by an unknown person. While accustomed to unfriendly glances, unpleasant words, and people spitting nearby, he had not been physically assaulted until these two attacks. Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal condemned today’s attack in a tweet, writing, ‘This act disgusts us. Antisemitism, like all forms of hatred, is a deadly poison for our society.’