(JTA) – A bullet fired from an air gun crashed through a window of a Paris synagogue’s office.
The rabbi and his assistant were in the David Ben Ichay Synagogue in Belleville, in the northeastern section of the French capital, when the bullet was fired on Monday night.
French police reportedly are searching for two suspects who were outside the synagogue about 10 minutes before the attack, the JSSNews website reported.
Surveillance cameras did not provide much information on the incident, according to the website. It was unclear whether the shots originated from the street or a nearby building.
The Bureau for National Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA, condemned what it called the “anti-Semitic assault on a place of worship in Paris.” The watchdog group has made a public call for “everything to be done to identify and question the anti-Jewish criminals.”
Earlier in the day, a motorist had rammed his vehicle into a crowd in western France shouting “Allahu Akbar,” Arabic for “God is greatest.” On Sunday, in a similar attack, a driver in eastern France had shouted “This is in the name of the children of Palestine” while slamming into a Christmas market crowd.
BNVCA said the attacks “are rooted in a misguided Palestinianism and visceral anti-Zionism. The BNVCA recommends that all those responsible for synagogues, Jewish schools and other institutions increase their vigilance and caution. “
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