Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands and senior member of the Rabbinical Center of Europe (RCE), Rabbi Benyamin Jacobs was target of a hate crime in which anti-Semitic extremists threw stones and yelled racial slurs against Jews Thursday. The attack, the second such to have been launched against Rabbi Jacobs’ property, caused extensive damage, yet luckily, no one was injured.

This is the second attack on Rabbi Jacobs’ house in less than a week. Both attacks lasted a few minutes, at the end of which the perpetrators ran off and disappeared.

Jewish and Christian organisations are planning a big rally Thursday night in Holland, in a mark of solidarity with Rabbi Jacobs and to protest against anti-Semitism.

Rabbi Jacobs said: “Only by the grace of G-d there were no casualties from the incident. The fact that this is the second attack on my house in less than a week, demonstrates the intense hatred towards Jews that is rampaging throughout many countries in Europe”.

A delegation of Rabbis from the Rabbinical Center of Europe, including Rabbi Jacobs and Rabbi Margolin, recently met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Commissioner for Education in order to discuss joint efforts in battling anti-Semitism.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, General Director of the European Jewish Association and of the RCE states: “We have been warning for a long time of the severe rise in anti-Semitism across Europe and reiterate our demands for European governments to establish national authorities to combat anti-Semitism, that, along with education of future generations, will also be responsible for increasing security around Jewish institutions.” Rabbi Margolin has also called for an increase in security measures for rabbis and Jewish institutions across the continent.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)