Emmanuel Macron condemns attack on French rabbi
French President said the incident 'shocks us all'
The chief rabbi of the French city Orléans was physically assaulted and called antisemitic slurs while walking with his 9-year-old son on Shabbat.
Chief Rabbi Arié Engelberg was walking with his son from synagogue on Saturday afternoon when a 16-year-old approached him and asked if he was Jewish, according to Agence France-Presse.
After Engelberg said he was Jewish, the teenager allegedly began hurling slurs at him and filming him. When Engelberg pushed the teen’s phone away, the teen allegedly punched and bit him.
The teenage assailant was arrested and taken to a psychiatric facility, according to the Associated Press. Engelberg was taken to a hospital where his condition was described as stable but serious, according to Israeli media cited by the Times of Israel.
French President Emannuel Macron condemned the incident.
“The attack on Rabbi Arié Engelberg in Orléans shocks us all,” Macron wrote in a post 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 poison. We will not give in to silence or inaction.”
France, which is home to an estimated 440,000 Jews, the most of any country in Europe, has seen a sharp rise in antisemitism since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. According to data from the French Interior Ministry, the country saw 1,570 antisemitic acts in 2024, accounting for over half of the religion-based hate crimes in the country.
Until Saturday’s attack, the city of Orléans had been largely unaffected by the trends in hate crimes “apart from some graffiti,” Andre Druon, an Orléans Jewish community leader, told AFP.
A silent march is planned in Orléans Tuesday in response to the attack, according to AFP.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
