A man tried for insulting Jewish philosopher Alain Finkielkraut during an anti-government Yellow Vest (gilets jaunes) protest was convicted and sentenced to a two-month suspended sentence on Friday.

Prosecutors had sought a six-month suspended sentence and a €45,000 (£39,700) fine.

Benjamin Weller was one of several men who assaulted the academic on February 16 after recognising him as he emerged from a taxi near his home in Paris, but is the only attacker identified so far.

He was filmed in a video shouting “dirty Zionist”, “dirty race”, “you’re going to die and go to hell” and “France is ours! It’s ours”.

The court recognised those insults were antisemitic and not a political statement against Zionism, as claimed by the defendant.

But the leader of the Jewish umbrella group Crif told the JC he was disappointed by the sentence.

“It’s unbearable,” Francis Kalifat said. “How can a two-month suspended sentence dissuade anyone from carrying out such attacks?

“The justice system is not doing its job when it’s handing down such lenient sentences. It has to be firm. It may seem harsh, but being firm is the only way to dissuade people from repeating such acts.”

During his trial in May, Weller told the court “Zionists and other lobbies” control France, and that “Zionists are the reason people are suffering in France”.

The court said this proves his insults were antisemitic.

“We consider Alain Finkielkraut was targeted because of his identity. The accused used all of the usual antisemitic stereotypes implying they’re not part of the nation and saying that they want to dominate the world. The word ‘Zionist’ in this context has an antisemitic connotation,” the presiding judge said.

A pro-Palestinian activist, Weller denied being antisemitic and says his attacks on Mr Finkielkraut were a political statement against the philosopher’s right-wing views expressed over the years about preserving French identity, which Weller and his lawyers describe as racist.

They also accuse him of being pro-Israeli, even though the philosopher has long backed the creation of a Palestinian state.

“My client’s statements were a reaction to Mr Finkielkraut’s own comments. We reject the court’s claims my client used antisemitic stereotypes,” attorney Ouadie Elhamamouchi told the JC.

“There are clearly double standards here. Mr Finkielkraut has never been convicted for his statements,” said the attorney, who confirmed they will appeal the ruling “as a matter of principle”.

His client, advised not to speak to the press, only remarked that his trial is “symbolic”.

“I was stunned,” Mr Finkielkraut said during his testimony to the court.

“I tried to understand why they were heckling me. I think that had police not stopped them from approaching me, they would have attacked me physically.”

Police reports described the group as aggressive and said it could have become violent.

Weller, whose father was Muslim, was flagged in the past as a Salafist, although he told the court he abandoned those practices several years ago.

He said the Yellow Vest movement included all kinds of activists from the far-left and far-right, as well as pro-Palestinians, and that all had a common contempt for Zionists.

The protests, which started as demonstrations against rising fuel prices, initially attracted tens of thousands of people on Saturdays since November, but the movement has lost momentum in recent weeks.

Various political and activist groups have tried to use the protest to widen their support base.