The French anti-terrorism prosecutor's office opened an investigation on Saturday after an attack on a synagogue in La Grande-Motte, a seaside town in the southeast of the country. The attack, described as a “terrorist act” by President Emmanuel Macron, injured a police officer and involved setting fire to two vehicles, one of which contained a gas cylinder that exploded. Two other fires broke out at the entrance gates of the Jewish temple, but they were quickly extinguished. Outgoing Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin called for increased security at places of worship for the Jewish community. France had already been on maximum alert for attacks since last March.

“The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office has taken charge of the investigation. “Security forces are looking for the suspect,” outgoing Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote in a message on X, speaking of an “anti-Semitic act.” In a statement, the prosecutor's office said it was investigating three offenses: attempted murder, destruction by dangerous means and criminal association, all with terrorist motivations.

Five people, including the rabbi, were at the Beth Yaacov synagogue when the attack occurred between 8:00 and 8:30 in the morning. No one was injured and the temple, located in a residential area, did not suffer major damage. A large police presence cordoned off the scene and Macron assured that all resources were being mobilized to find the alleged perpetrator of the attack. Nearly 200 police officers and gendarmes were mobilized.

In France, Jewish temples have stepped up their security since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7. According to the France Télévisions anti-terrorism prosecutor's office, surveillance cameras recorded a man in front of the religious building and “initial investigations indicate that the perpetrator was supposedly carrying a Palestinian flag and a weapon.”

Other media outlets point out that the images showed a man with a red kufiya [un pañuelo palestino] on his head and a Palestinian flag around his hip. He also carried a water bottle containing a yellow liquid in each hand, and what appeared to be a firearm, the sources said.

“We have avoided an absolute tragedy,” said Attal, the interim prime minister, who traveled to La Grande-Motte, located about 25 km east of the city of Montpellier. “The first elements, from video surveillance among other things, show that the attacker was extremely determined and that if the synagogue had been full of worshipers at that time (…) there would probably have been victims,” ​​he added.

“It is clear that, even more so since the attack of October 7, [en Gaza]”There is a climate fueled by some, a lot of confusion generated by some, which leads to hatred of Jews in our country,” Attal continued, without specifying to whom he was referring. The Interior Minister also visited the city.

“An attempted assassination of Jews”

In recent months, the government has repeatedly said that the Gaza conflict has increased anti-Semitic acts in the country. In May, for example, police killed a man who set fire to a synagogue in Rouen, although the act was not classified as terrorist. The attack was condemned by authorities and citizens, who gathered in several cities across the country to demonstrate their support for the Jewish community.

The Executive counted 887 anti-Semitic acts in the first half of 2024, almost three times more than in the same period of 2023. The authorities fear that tensions in the Middle East could end up transferring to France, the country with the largest number of Jews and Muslim community in Europe.

A municipal police officer was injured in the attack on Saturday, but not seriously, local media reported. The political class unanimously condemned the events that occurred two days before the start of the Paris Paralympic Games and at a time when negotiations for the appointment of a prime minister appear to be accelerating. France has had a government since the second round of early legislative elections on July 7.

In a message on the social network X, Macron assured that “the fight against anti-Semitism” is a daily battle. The mayor of La Grande-Motte, Stéphan Rossignol, declared that it was an “attack directed against the Jewish community”. Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), expressed the same opinion: “It is an attempt to assassinate Jews”.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the radical left party France Insoumise, was one of the first to react. In a message on His remarks have been particularly scrutinized, after the strong criticism he received in June for having described anti-Semitism in France as “residual”. Some party leaders have also been accused of promoting anti-Semitism to capture the vote of French people of Arab origin. The party denies it.

Another party, Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN), is accused of instrumentalizing anti-Semitism in the opposite direction, to win votes, by presenting itself as the party defending Jews, while its origins are closely linked to the anti-Jewish struggle. Semitism. “These unacceptable and unspeakable attacks are a consequence of the rise of anti-Semitism that is spreading in our country,” Le Pen wrote in X.

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