The resigning Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced that protection of Jewish places of worship would be strengthened following the burning of vehicles, followed by an explosion, in front of the synagogue in La Grande-Motte (Hérault), this Saturday, August 24.
At least two cars, one of which contained a gas bottle, were set on fire in front of the place of worship, causing an explosion that injured a municipal police officer, the gendarmerie and the city’s mayor, Stéphan Rossignol, said. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office has taken charge of the investigation.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal will visit the scene this Saturday afternoon with Gérald Darmanin. The latter denounced on the social network X a “manifestly criminal” act. “I want to assure our Jewish fellow citizens and the municipality of my full support and say that at the request of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, all means are being mobilized to find the perpetrator,” he stressed.
“An attempt to kill Jews”
The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) has denounced “an attempt to kill Jews”. Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), has strongly denounced “an attempt to kill Jews”. “Using a gas canister in a car at a time when we think that worshipers are arriving at a synagogue is not simply arson, not simply attacking a building, a place of worship, it is the desire to kill”, he deplored.
According to Stéphan Rossignol, the city’s surveillance cameras captured images of an individual setting fire to vehicles in front of the Beth Yaacov synagogue. According to a source at the gendarmerie, two doors of the religious building were damaged by the fire. The firefighters, called to the scene, alerted the gendarmerie around 8:30 a.m.