A 40-year-old man was arrested on Friday evening after threatening Jewish community members with a knife and shouting antisemitic insults near a synagogue in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris, reports The Jerusalem Post.
Mayor Jean-Christophe Fromantin confirmed the incident in a statement, assuring residents that there were no injuries. The suspect was taken into custody, and an investigation is now underway, according to Paris Police Prefect Laurent Nuñez.
Authorities have pledged to increase security around Jewish sites in the area in the coming days. Nuñez said he shared in the “outrage” over the incident, while Mayor Fromantin stressed the need for vigilance: “We must remain alert and mobilise all resources in the face of the rise of antisemitism.”
The attempted attack follows a series of alarming developments in the French capital. Only weeks earlier, two Muslim Arab teenagers were arrested on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks targeting Paris synagogues as well as the Eiffel Tower, according to Le Figaro.
Jewish leaders and local officials have warned that the escalation of open antisemitic threats — from vandalism and harassment to physical intimidation with weapons — demonstrates how Jews in France are increasingly being targeted simply for their identity. The swift police response in Neuilly has been welcomed, but community members stress that rising antisemitic hostility requires constant protection and political resolve.
Photo credit: REUTERS/MARKO DJURICA
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