A grave antisemitic incident occurred in Venice, Italy, when three unidentified thugs attacked a Jewish American couple taking a stroll in Venice’s historic Jewish ghetto, Italian media reported.

The Venice-based Il Gazzettino newspaper reported that the victim, a Chabad chassid visiting from the United States, and his wife—who is five months pregnant—had just finished eating dinner and were taking a walk. Three men walking nearby with a dog noticed his traditional Jewish attire and long beard and shouted “dirty Jew,” spat on him, and threw a bottle at him.

One of the thugs then unleashed his large dog and ordered it to attack the Jew—an act that evokes dark chapters of Jewish history. The dog heeded the order, but b’chasdei Hashem, it bit into the cellphone in the man’s pants pocket. The couple quickly fled back to the kosher restaurant where they had just dined.

The couple decided not to press formal charges and left for the United States the next morning. However, according to the report, local Jews reported the incident to the police, who opened an investigation and are reviewing nearby surveillance footage in an effort to identify the perpetrators.

The owner of the kosher Gam Gam restaurant, Tzion Yechiel Banim Rachamim, told the outlet that “the attack was completely unprovoked, and passersby acted as if nothing had happened.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)