French rabbi attacked in city of Orléans, France while walking home with his son

Rabbi Arié Engelberg, from Orléans, France, was attacked over the weekend while returning home from synagogue with his nine-year-old son. 

Rabbi Engelberg told BFM television that his attacker asked if he was Jewish. 

“I said yes,” Engelberg explained. 

The youth then began to make insults against Jews while trying to film the incident on his phone. 

"I decided to act and I pushed his telephone away," Rabbi Engelberg said. 

The attacker then began to hit and bite him, before a bystander intervened, and the youth ran away. 

The attacker was identified as a 16-year-old teenager of Palestinian descent according to the city’s public prosecutor, who noted that an investigation had been opened for “intentional violence committed because of the victim’s real or supposed religious affiliation.” 

CRAZY FOOTAGE 🔴

🇫🇷 In a shocking footage, Rabbi Aryeh Engelberg, 45, Chief Rabbi of Orléans, France was brutally assaulted in broad daylight—right in front of his son—as they walked home from synagogue on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/tKuWkDq2Au

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 23, 2025

Due to the attacker’s age, his identity cannot be revealed by French law. 

France is home to Europe’s largest Jewish community and also the largest Muslim community in the European Union. 

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar expressed his shock at the attack, calling it “a vile and intolerable act.” 

“There must be zero tolerance for antisemitism, and it must be fought with unwavering determination,” Sa’ar said. 

Shocked by the attack on the Chief Rabbi of Orléans, Aryeh Engelberg, alongside his son, and I send him our wishes for a swift recovery.
This is a vile and intolerable act.
The resurgence of antisemitism in France and across Europe is not only alarming - it is a wake-up call to…

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) March 23, 2025

André Druon, president of the city’s Jewish community, told a French radio station that the city has had few antisemitic incidents since the start of the October 7 War. 

“Since at least October 7, we’ve had no incidents to report, apart from a few graffiti,” Druon noted. 

However, Rabbi Engelberg, in an interview with BFM-TV said, “It was just a question of time before suffering an antisemitic attack.” 

Despite the attack, Engelberg said he is not going to “change anything.” 

“Actually the opposite - I will continue to walk with pride, to express my Judaism with pride and to continue to direct the Jewish community of Orleans,” he remarked. 

French President Emmanuel Macron posted a statement to X condemning the attack, and calling antisemitism a “poison.” 

“The attack on Rabbi Arié Engelberg in Orléans shocks us all. I offer him, his son, and all our fellow citizens of the Jewish faith my full support and that of the nation,” Macron wrote. “Antisemitism is poison. We will not give in to silence or inaction.” 

The French government recorded 1,570 anti-Semitic attacks in 2024, which represents a decline of almost 6% from the number of recorded antisemitic attacks in 2023. However, the government’s figures also note that attacks on Jewish individuals, as opposed to attacks on Jewish property, were actually up 3% from the prior year. 

Europe has seen a dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents since the start of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks.