Rabbi Elie Lemmel was aggressed with a chair by a man of Palestinian origin in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a week after his attack in Deauville.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau condemned ”in the strongest possible terms” the anti-Semitic attack.
For the second time in a week, a rabbi was attacked around midday on Friday as he sat on the terrace of a café in in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris.
62-year-old Rabbi Elie Lemmel had already been attacked in the street in the city of Deauville on May 30.
On Friday, a man hit him with a chair, inflicting bruises on his face, before being arrested by several passers-by and held until the police arrived.
The suspect, a man of Palestinian origin, is subject to deportation from Germany. He was taken into custody, while the shocked rabbi was taken to hospital.
An investigation has been opened for “aggravated violence”, the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office said.
Rabbi Lemmel described to BFMTV what he had experienced as “upsetting”. “I have the impression that we’re dealing here with what I would call a ‘délit de faciès’ (racial profiling). I grew up in France, in a country where French peasants saved my parents and grandparents during the war. So it’s very upsetting.”
“We’re obliged to be a little more vigilant, but we have to move forward,” he said.
Jean-Christophe Fromantin, mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, denounced an “odious clearly anti-Semitic act”.
“It was when he saw the rabbi wearing a kippah and the Jewish religion that he carried out this act of aggression. Which is extremely worrying”, said the mayor
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau condemned ”in the strongest possible terms” the anti-Semitic attack on the rabbi. ”I want to say to our compatriots of the Jewish faith that we are at their side,” he wrote on X. ”The perpetrator, who had not to be in France, must be severely punished and sent away.”
He added: ”I salute the cold-bloodedness and courage of the people who enabled the police to arrest him.
Attacking people because of their faith is a disgrace. The increase in anti-religious acts requires the mobilization of all.”
Former Prime Minister Gabriel Atta and current MP and Secretary General of the Renaissance party, expressed his “solidarity” with the rabbi. “Anti-Semitism, like all hatreds, is a deadly poison for our society. We will always fight it,” he said on X.
On May 30, three visibly drunk individuals attacked the rabbi in Deauville. The assailants punched the victim in the abdomen, slightly injuring him.
The perpetrators are still being identified. No arrests have been made at this stage, according to a source close to the investigation.