Dutch Minister of Justice and Security, Dilan Yesilgöz, spoke out about the assault of a rabbi in Utrecht on Friday.
She called the incident “terrible” and said she trusts the police are doing everything they can to find “these Jew-haters.’’
On Friday, Chabad Rabbi Aryeh Leib Heintz was assaulted by a man in a discount Action store located in the Overvecht shopping center of the city of Utrecht. His wife Bracha said it was an anti-Semitic act. “Suddenly a man came up to him and asked what he came there to do,” she said. In doing he emphasized that the rabbi is Jewish. “Then he received a blow to the head,” she told the Dutch media.
“Terrible. No tolerance for this scum,” the minister wrote on X. “I trust the police are doing everything they can to find these Jew-haters. This will only stop when we all, as a society, stand up.”
Police announced on Friday that they were investigating the assault. No one has yet been arrested.
Bracha Heintz said she is not surprised as the climate in the Netherlands is deteriorating: “It starts with words and it ends in actions. My husband is not badly hurt, so it could have ended much worse. But should we then wait until someone dies before action is taken?,’’ she asked.