The trial of an Algerian housekeeper accused of attempting to poison the Jewish family she worked for has begun in Paris.

Prosecutors described how the housekeeper poured large quantities of bleach into food and drinks in the house and revealed that the woman had performed searches on her phone related to Jews a month before being hired.

The family filed a complaint in early February 2024 after the mother’s suspicions about a strange taste in her food and drinks were confirmed by her young daughter, who told her she saw the housekeeper pouring bleach into food. The daughter later also told the police that she saw the housekeeper “striking the mezuzos several times.”

Police investigators found significant amounts of bleach in the food and drinks, including a substance that could cause allergic reactions, severe diarrhea, significant damage to the digestive system, and death if drunk in large quantities.

When they arrested the housekeeper, they discovered that she was an illegal immigrant using a forged Belgian identity card.

When officers searched her apartment, she told them that her employers “have money and power. I should never have had to work for a Jewish woman. She only brought me trouble.”

She reportedly also described her actions towards the family as “punishment” and “a warning,” saying, “I was angry. They didn’t respect me. I knew it could cause them pain, but not enough to kill them.”

She also claimed she had a financial dispute with the family, but investigators discovered that she had performed searches on her phone related to Jews a month before being hired.

The trial opened this week at the Nanterre Criminal Court in the French capital. The mother told Le Parisien that she hopes the woman will be found guilty and deported from France, saying that her motive “is not revenge—it’s fear.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)