An Iranian screaming “Allahu Akbar” on Tuesday attacked a rabbi and his son with a knife as they were entering a synagogue in Paris for the morning prayer.
The 50-year-old rabbi, identified as Philippe Baroukh, suffered cuts to his throat while his 18-year-old son was stabbed in the back. They were immediately transported to the hospital to undergo surgery and are out of danger.
The attack took place in the Beth-El synagogue on rue Saulnier in the 9th district of the French capital.
Shimon Samuels, International Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Paris said: “At 7am, an Iranian screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ attacked a rabbi and his son with a cutter outside his synagogue in the 9th district of Paris.”
“After a chase into the synagogue and then back into the street, the assailant was reportedly apprehended by passers - by and the police.”
According to the media, the 28-year-old attacker, who is thought to have been born in Tehran, is believed to have escaped from a French psychiatric institution.
"This man had escaped on April 16 from a psychiatric hospital," a police source said
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre asked police to investigate the crime as a pre-meditated, anti-Semitic hate crime.
The National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, which monitors anti-Semitic incidents in France, deplored the fact that the synagogue, while very frequented, doesn't enjoy special security and protection measures.
Last year saw an increase of 45 percent of anti-Semitic acts in France with the SPCJ, the security service of the French Jewish community, registering 386 such acts.
Around 600,000 Jews live in France.