Vandals deface synagogues and Holocaust memorial in Paris

Vandals on Friday night sprayed green paint on five Jewish sites, including France’s Holocaust Memorial, in the Marais district in central Paris.

Citing police sources, German channel RTL listed the Belleville Synagogue, the Tournelles Synagogue, the Israeli “Chez Marianne” restaurant and the Agoudas Hakehilos synagogue as the other four targets.

“I am deeply disgusted by these heinous acts targeting the Jewish community,” French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau tweeted in the wake of the vandalism.

Surveillance footage from the Holocaust Memorial reviewed by law enforcement showed a man dressed in black spray-painting the building at 4.35 am, according to RTL.

No arrests were made, according to AFP, though the Paris Prosecutor’s Office said that a religious motive for the incidents is being investigated.

“I am appalled by the attack on Jewish institutions in Paris over Shabbat, including the synagogue in the Marais neighborhood, which was built by my great-grandfather, Rabbi Joel Herzog,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said.

He added that he spoke with leaders of the French Jewish community on Saturday evening to express his solidarity and support.

“I call on the French authorities to act swiftly and firmly to bring the perpetrators to justice, and to defend the Jewish community from hatred and attacks of any kind,” he said.

Green paint thrown on the walls of the Agoudas Hakehilos synagogue in Paris on May 31, 2025. (Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

Responding to the Saturday night’s events, the Israeli embassy in France said it was "horrified by the coordinated antisemitic attack".

Last week, the French interior minister urged law enforcement personnel to take extra security measures to protect Jewish-affiliated sites against antisemitic attacks.

On Friday, Retailleau ordered French security forces in a separate message seen by AFP to increase surveillance efforts ahead of the Shavuot holiday.

“Antisemitic acts account for more than 60 per cent of anti-religious acts, and the Jewish community is particularly vulnerable,” Retailleau said in the message.

Ever since the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Jewish communities across Europe have experienced heightened tensions, with an uptick of vandalism targeting Jewish-linked sites.

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) found in July 2024 that 76 per cent of European Jews avoid wearing anything betraying a religious identity outside their homes or synagogues, registering an increase of 30 per cent since the first FRA survey was conducted in 2013.

A survey of 4,400 European adults published in May this year found that more than a quarter said they had seen antisemitism disguised as pro-Palestinian activism.

However, 82 per cent of respondents said they do not prioritize national plans to fight antisemitism, Rabbi Menachem Margolin said in presenting the survey in Madrid during the annual conference of the European Jewish Association that he leads.