Orléans: Teen Sentenced to 16 Months in Prison for Violent Antisemitic Attack on Rabbi

The Juvenile Court of Orléans sentenced a 16-year-old boy on Wednesday to 16 months in prison, with an immediate detention order, for the assault on Rabbi Arié Engelberg, which occurred on March 22, 2025. The sentence also includes a five-year ban from the Loiret department and a three-year no-contact order with the victim and his family.

The teenager, an unaccompanied minor who recently arrived in France, was tried for aggravated assault motivated by antisemitic bias, as well as for psychological violence against the rabbi’s nine-year-old son, who witnessed the attack. He was also found guilty of refusing an identity test and drug use.

Shocking Assault in Broad Daylight

On the day of the incident, Rabbi Engelberg, dressed in traditional religious clothing, was walking with his son when the teenager approached him while filming, questioning him about his religion and shouting antisemitic slurs, including “All Jews are sons of bitches,” according to reports. When the rabbi attempted to stop the filming, he was punched in the face, grabbed, and bitten on the shoulder blade, all in front of his child. A bystander intervened, ending the assault and prompting the suspect’s arrest a few hours later.

A Tense Trial

During the eight-hour hearing, the defendant denied the charges, giving conflicting statements about the events and his nationality—claiming at times to be Palestinian, then Moroccan. Investigators discovered he was also implicated in three other criminal cases, involving drug trafficking, assaulting a public official, and aggravated theft.

Defense lawyer Nicolas Bouteillan argued that a language barrier hindered his client’s understanding of the proceedings, and pointed out that the court did not uphold the antisemitic motive, ultimately handing down a lighter sentence than the 20 months requested by the prosecution.

Civil Party Welcomes the Verdict

Alexandra Levy-Druon, attorney for the rabbi, praised the ruling, saying it “sends a strong message: antisemitism, hatred, and violence have no place in France.” Rabbi Engelberg, who attended the trial, emphasized that “what caused the shock was that I stood up for myself. I did it for my son, for myself, for the Jewish community, and for all citizens who refuse to bow down to delinquency.”