PARIS (AP) – French President Emmanuel Macron denounced “anti-Semitism poison” on Sunday following the shocking attack on the chief rabbis of Orleans Central City. French authorities treat the incident as an anti-Semitic hate crime.
Rabbi Arié Engelberg was attacked on a Saturday evening while walking through the city centre with his young son. Local media reported that the suspect threw anti-Semitic insults with the rabbis before physically attacking him.
“Olean's attack on Rabbi Arie Engelberg shocks us all. I will provide him, his son, and all our fellow citizens of our Jewish faith to my full support and support of the people and supporters of the people… We will not succumb to silence or inaction,” Macron wrote in a post on X.
The suspect was arrested shortly after the attack and moved to a psychiatric facility, Home Minister Gerald Dermanin confirmed. “I condemn Olean's Chihulabi's anti-Semitic attack with maximum stiffness,” he posted on X.
Dharmanin later added: “France cannot allow it to be a stage of foreign tensions that promote violence and anti-Semitism.”
“No, anti-Semitism is not “remaining,” says Jonathan Alfie, president of the French Council for Representatives of the Jewish Agency (CRIF), who “helps those who minimize and justify Jewish hatred by conflicts 4,000 km apart.”
The rabbi was not seriously injured, but was left shaken, local media reported. Orleans mayor Serge Groard condemned “heinous and unbearable conduct” and described it as “a serious attack on the values of our Republic.”
France has the largest Jewish population in Western Europe, with an estimated 500,000 Jews nearly 1% of the national population. It is the third largest Jewish community in the world, after Israel and the United States. That glaring made France a frequent flashpoint for the rise of anti-Semitism, especially at the moment of international conflict.
Anti-Semitism cases have skyrocketed in recent years, and have increased sharply in 2023 after Hamas attacked in Israel on October 7th. These include physical assault, threats, vandalism and harassment, which encourages vigilance among Jewish communities and leaders.
Figures released Sunday by the French Ministry of Interior revealed that 1,570 anti-Semitism acts were recorded in 2024, accounting for 62% of all religiously motivated hate crimes in the country. It shows a 6% decline from the previous year, but the ministry noted that 65% of these actions directly targeted individuals, unlike other anti-religious incidents against beliefs that tend to include property. Physical or personal attacks rose 3% year-on-year.
