A 67-year-old man wearing a kippa was violently assaulted on Saturday, in Yerres (Essonne), while the attacker shouted, “Dirty Jew, I’m going to kill you”, according to police sources confirmed by France Télévisions and initially reported by Le Parisien. Passersby intervened to stop the assault.
The victim filed a police report on Saturday evening, Evry prosecutor Grégoire Dulin told franceinfo on Sunday. He added that the man is no longer hospitalized and has been issued a medical certificate for a total incapacity to work for 15 days.
An investigation has been launched into “attempted robbery with violence causing total incapacity to work for more than eight days, committed due to the victim’s religion, and death threats motivated by religion.” The case has been assigned to the territorial crime unit in Essonne. As of now, no arrests have been made, the prosecutor confirmed.
“He has a very, very swollen eye,” said Mendel Gourevitch, director of the Yeshiva (Talmudic school) in nearby Brunoy, who described himself as a close friend of the victim. He expressed shock at the attack, noting that such violence is unprecedented in what is usually a quiet area. “Everyone is worried,” he added, especially parents of students at his school.
Rabbi Michel Serfaty of Ris-Orangis, also in Essonne, said, “All I can do is express sympathy.” Speaking to AFP, he lamented that “today, in France, this is no longer an extraordinary event”, while stressing the importance of not fueling fear or panic.
Antoine Léaument, MP for Essonne’s 10th district (LFI), expressed his full support for the victim and their family on X (formerly Twitter). “The slurs used during this attack leave no doubt about its antisemitic nature,” he stated.
The Israeli Embassy in France today (Sunday) strongly condemned the attack: “This is a most serious act, which fits into the disturbing context of the continuing rise in anti-Semitism in France”. The embassy wished the victim a speedy and full recovery, and expressed confidence in the French authorities that they would act swiftly to apprehend the assailant and bring him to justice.