French police have arrested a 33-year-old Algerian man, suspected of trying to set fire to the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte, Southern France, on Saturday, Frances’ Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
Roughly 200 policemen had been hunting for a suspect and the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office was put in charge of the investigation, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said.
The European Jewish Congress has expressed that it was “appalled” by the arson attack, stating that “the persistent environment of antisemitic hate marches always leads to attacks on Jews,” in a post on X on Sunday.
“The European Jewish Congress (EJC) strongly condemns the arson attack on a synagogue… as Jews had gathered to attend Shabbat prayers,” the post read.
“Setting off an explosion outside a synagogue on a Shabbat morning has one aim – to kill Jews,” Dr Ariel Muzicant, EJC President said. “A persistent environment of hate speech and hate marches targeting Jews and Israel always has the same result, “ he continued.
