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16-year-old arrested for biting rabbi in central France
The Orléans rabbi was accosted in front of his young son on Shabbat
March 24, 2025 12:00
By, Jewish News Syndicate
1 min read
The Orléans rabbi was accosted in front of his young son on Shabbat
March 24, 2025 12:00ByJC Reporter, Jewish News Syndicate
A 16-year-old was arrested on Saturday for assaulting a rabbi as he returned home from synagogue with his nine-year-old son in Orléans, prompting condemnation from French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
The suspect bit Rabbi Arié Engelberg on the shoulder after accosting him in the street at around 1pm, the Le Parisien news site reported. A video shows the assailant swinging punches at Engelberg in front of a young boy before a bystander steps in to separate them. The teenager was arrested that evening.
French rabbi Arié Engelberg was attacked in the street of Orléans with his 9-year-old son. The two had been on their way home from synagogue.
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 24, 2025
A 16-year-old Palestinian allegedly asked him: "Are you Jewish?" When he said yes, the attack began. pic.twitter.com/Q1r54iM3gy
Orléans mayor Serge Grouard denounced the “antisemitic act” and said the suspect, who can’t be named due to his age, is of Moroccan origin, according to Le Parisien. The newspaper had earlier reported that the suspect told police he had Palestinian ancestry.
Ariel Goldmann, president of the FSJU (United Jewish Welfare Fund), said the alleged assailant had approached the rabbi with a cell phone, appearing to film him on Shabbat. The rabbi asked the suspect to stop, leading to the assault, Goldmann told the France 3 television channel.
The rabbi was lightly wounded on the cheek. He is “doing well, he’s at home but naturally, he’s shaken up,” Goldmann said.
The teenager in custody is facing charges of “deliberate violence committed because of the victim’s real or supposed affiliation with a religion,” Emmanuelle Bochenek-Puren, the prosecutor of the Orléans area, about 75 miles southwest of Paris, told Le Parisien.
“The attack on Rabbi Arié Engelberg in Orléans shocks us all,” Macron wrote on X. “I offer him, his son, and all our fellow citizens of the Jewish faith my full support and that of the nation. Antisemitism is poisonous. We will not give in to silence or inaction.”
Sa’ar wrote about the incident: “The resurgence of antisemitism in France and across Europe is not only alarming—it is a wake-up call to European governments, leaders and civil society.”
In 2024, the Service for the Protection of the Jewish Community in France (SPCJ) recorded 1,570 antisemitic acts in the country, a 6.3% decrease from 2023. That year, SPCJ documented an increase of 284% in antisemitic hate crimes over the previous year. About three-quarters of the 2023 incidents happened in that year’s final quarter, after the October 7 attack.
A march to support the rabbi and denounce antisemitism is planned for Tuesday evening in Orléans.