Anti-Semitic incident: attack on the rabbi in Vienna – author on the run

A blatantly anti-Semitic attack on a rabbi was carried out in Vienna. A woman threatened the man with a knife, ripped his kippah from his head and shouted anti-Jewish slogans, Austrian news agency APA reported, citing the Interior Ministry. After the crime on Thursday, the perpetrator fled. Nobody was hurt. According to the news portal “OE24”, the rabbi said when questioned by the police that passersby had looked the other way instead of helping him.

“This attack is an attack on Jewish life in Vienna,” Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) wrote on Twitter after the incident in Vienna’s Landstrasse neighborhood. “In addition to the increased protection of the synagogues already ordered, all measures are being taken to quickly clarify this seemingly anti-Semitic attack. There is no tolerance for anti-Semitism, regardless of whether it is politically or religiously motivated. “

Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also spoke on Twitter: “I condemn today’s anti-Semitic attack on a rabbi in Vienna in the strictest terms. We must fight anti-Semitism with all determination and do everything possible to make the lives of Jews here in Austria safe. Because Europe without Jews is no longer Europe “.