Vandals defaced France’s national Holocaust memorial, two shuls, and a kosher restaurant in central Paris with green paint overnight Friday. Among the sites targeted was a shul in the historic Marais district. Israeli President Yitzchok Herzog, whose great-grandfather Rav Yoel Herzog zt”l built the shul, said he was “appalled” by the incident and spoke with French Jewish leaders to offer chizuk and solidarity.

“These heinous acts of hatred cannot go unanswered,” President Herzog said. “I call on French authorities to act swiftly and firmly to bring the perpetrators to justice and protect the Jewish community from further attacks.”

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau wrote, “I am deeply disgusted by these heinous acts targeting the Jewish community.” He confirmed that no arrests have been made yet, but added that he had already ordered increased security around Jewish institutions ahead of Shavuos.

Retailleau noted that antisemitic acts now account for over 60% of all anti-religious incidents in France, and that the Jewish community—one of the largest in the world outside of Israel—is “particularly vulnerable.” He had already called last week for “visible and dissuasive” security measures around Jewish sites.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo vowed to file a formal complaint over the vandalism and condemned the attacks as “acts of intimidation” that have no place “in our city or in our Republic.”

This latest round of antisemitic incidents comes amid a troubling and unprecedented rise in attacks against Jews in France since the outbreak of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023. In the past year alone, France has seen attempted arson at a shul in La Grande-Motte, a devastating fire at a Rouen shul, and the assault of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in Courbevoie by teenagers yelling antisemitic slurs.

In May 2024, vandals painted red handprints at the Paris memorial honoring the righteous gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews during the Nazi occupation.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)