The event had been planned for weeks. On September 8, the prestigious Hoche salons, located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, hosted the 87th Israeli Investment and Real Estate Fair in their premises. The meeting, public and open to all, was placed under high protection: security gates were installed in the hall, while around ten CRS trucks were parked in the adjacent streets, in order to avoid any untimely gathering. More discreet, generally dressed in civilian clothes, “around fifteen members” of the Jewish Community Protection Service (SPCJ) were also mobilized around the site, according to a representative of the community present on site. In support of law enforcement, these volunteers’ mission is notably to secure the surroundings of Jewish community buildings, by spotting possible troublemakers or suspicious behavior.
Since October 7, this private organization, which defines itself as “apolitical and non-profit”, has been more mobilized than ever in the Jewish community. “There has been a real change in the intensity of the threat. We have no other choice but to be active in our own security,” says Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions. of France (Crif). While more than a thousand anti-Semitic acts were counted by the Ministry of the Interior and the SPCJ between January and July 2024, the security context anguishes the Jewish community as a whole – and reinforces its desire to self-protect. The trend is not new: the SPCJ was founded more than forty years ago, under the leadership of Crif, the Unified Jewish Social Fund (FSJU) and the Consistory, following the bomb attack of rue Copernic in October 1980.
The organization, which Jewish community leaders repeat is “neither a militia nor a police force” and which has never ceased to exist, today has a handful of employees and dozens of volunteers throughout France, working in close collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior and the prefectures. “Its members are responsible in particular for recognizing those who are part of the community or those who are there for scouting purposes. In the event of a problem or anti-Semitic attack, anyone can also call them on a toll-free number,” summarizes Albert Elharrar, president of the Jewish community of Créteil. “The members of the service know the procedures, the right numbers, the privileged access points to contact the police. It is better to listen to their recommendations: if they tell you to put an access code in front of a particular synagogue, you do it,” confides one another representative of the Jewish community, preferring to remain anonymous.
For the rest, it is difficult to find out more: by nature very discreet and out of concern for security, the service communicates neither on the profile of its members nor on their training. Chaired by Alexandre de Rothschild, CEO of the investment bank Rothschild & Co, the organization would be entirely financed by “private investors”, according to Yonathan Arfi. Starting with the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah, which indicates on its website that it is “the first financial partner” of the SPCJ. The State does participate in the material security of certain buildings – the Ministry of the Interior indicates to L’Express that it has invested more than 4 million euros in 2023 to strengthen the security of Jewish places of worship -, but “this does not does not cover the human cost necessary for the surveillance of these places”, admits the president of Crif. In Créteil, Albert Elharrar is in despair at having to “add a “vigilante” line in the budget of each conference or each community gathering” organized since October 7. “Fortunately we can count on the members of the SPCJ and the parent volunteers who take care of monitoring the schools. Many have come forward since October 7 to help,” he says.
Reporting platform
Beyond the very formal supervision of the SPCJ, many French Jews are also trying to provide an individual response to the rise of anti-Semitism in France. Moché Lewin, rabbi of the Raincy synagogue (Seine-Saint-Denis), discovered with surprise the creation of “invisible mezuzot”, specially designed to fit discreetly into the doorframe of the entrance doors – this object of Jewish worship , traditionally affixed to the entrance to homes, had been removed by “1 in 5 people” since October 7, for fear of reprisals or attacks, according to a study carried out by Ifop and the American Jewish Committee France in May 2024. The man also received several requests for Krav Maga training from “worried followers or parents of students”, and countless requests from families wishing to move their children to a Jewish school, for fear “of ‘anti-Semitic attacks’ in the public.
Others, like Stéphane Zibi, prefer to use communication to try to combat anti-Semitic ideas. Last November, the man set up the collective “Diaspora defense forces”, which aims to “combat disinformation and defend the image of the Jewish community” in France, by organizing conferences or setting up online tools – its platform allowing the reporting of anti-Semitic acts at school has, for example, already collected around “forty” reports. To respond to the specific fears of part of the Jewish community regarding their travel, Stéphane Zibi also mentions the creation – validated by the SPCJ – of a “network of around 120 taxi drivers”, accessible via a specific telephone number , including a “FaceTime interview” and “customer ID card verification”.
In the same vein, an association soberly called “Medical Protection Service” was also created by volunteer doctors or paramedical members of the Jewish community. Present during community events, these volunteers train participants in first aid and guarantee rapid medical treatment in the event of an attack. Contacted by L’Express, one of the founding doctors of the association – who prefers to remain anonymous – evokes “the threats of attack on the Jewish community” and the “living targets” that French Jews have become since the October 7. As the anniversary of the Hamas attacks in Israel approaches, concern is palpable within the community. “We are aware that this is a very high-risk month,” sighs Yonathan Arfi.
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