In a suburb of Paris, a man threated four Jews with a knife near a synagogue and Jewish school.
By Rachel Avraham
In the affluent suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, just outside central Paris, a man threatened four Jewish individuals with a knife near a synagogue and Jewish school on Friday evening, moments before the start of Shabbat. Witnesses reported that the suspect appeared to specifically target men wearing kippot (skullcaps).
One of the victims fled into a Dior boutique to seek safety, where police swiftly arrested the suspect without violence. Thankfully, no one was physically injured, but the incident has left the community shaken and heightened fears of a new wave of antisemitic attacks dominates headlines in France.
Prosecutors in Nanterre have opened an investigation into “armed threats” and “violence motivated by religion.” Under the French Penal Code (Articles 222-17 and 222-18), making threats with a weapon carries penalties of up to three to five years in prison. If antisemitic motives are proven, Article 132-76 applies, treating this as an aggravating factor and making sentences more severe.
Legal analysts emphasize that the location (near a synagogue), the suspect’s verbal remarks (reportedly antisemitic), and the selection of visibly Jewish targets all reinforce the likelihood of a hate-crime classification.
Neuilly-sur-Seine Mayor Jean-Christophe Fromantin condemned the attack: “We must remain vigilant and act together against the rise of antisemitism.” Paris Police Prefect Laurent Nuñez announced reinforced patrols around Jewish schools and synagogues.
The Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) and other Jewish organizations urged the government to take stronger action, warning that such incidents threaten not only Jewish communities but also France’s democratic values.
From the Dreyfus Affair of the 19th century to the persecution of Jews under the Vichy regime during World War II, and more recently, incidents tied to radicalization and Middle East tensions, antisemitism in France has deep roots.
Today, most antisemitic assaults target either religious sites or individuals identifiable by their Jewish appearance—creating a climate of fear that affects daily life.
In 2024, Jewish watchdog groups CRIF and SPCJ documented 1,570 antisemitic incidents across France, only slightly lower than the 1,676 recorded in 2023. According to the Interior Ministry, 62% of all anti-religious offenses were directed against Jews. Just weeks before this latest attack, Lyon’s Holocaust memorial was vandalized, further fueling concerns that antisemitic hostility is reaching a dangerous plateau.
The incident has drawn concern beyond France. Israeli media highlighted it as further evidence of Europe’s antisemitism crisis, while the U.S. Special Envoy on Antisemitism urged European democracies to act decisively to protect Jewish communities.
The Neuilly-sur-Seine knife scare may not have resulted in injuries, but it delivered a powerful reminder of the dangers facing France’s Jewish community. For many, it was not just a local incident but a warning sign of a broader societal problem—the persistence of antisemitism at alarmingly high levels.
As one Parisian rabbi put it in the aftermath: “This was more than an attack on Jews; it was an attack on the values of France itself.”
Photo from Emmanuel Dyan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_France#/media/File:Old_Jewish_Area_Troyes_of_Rachi_France.jpg
