Motivated by rise in anti-Semitism, French prosecutors treat Lyon knife attack as 'attempted murder'

French prosecutors have begun investigating an attack against a young Jewish woman who was stabbed in her home in the French city of Lyon, suspecting anti-Semitism as the motive.

Anti-Semitic graffiti in a village cemetery near Lyon © AFP

Police say they are treating Saturday's attack as attempted murder, adding that the woman's life was not in danger and no arrests have been made.

The prosecutors' office in the southeastern city said late Saturday night, "This act could have anti-Semitism as its motive."

According to the woman's statement, she opened her door to a person who rang the doorbell and then stabbed her twice.

Dressed in dark clothes and with their face partly concealed, the attacker then fled the scene.

A swastika – the symbol used in Nazi Germany and by neo-Nazis –  was reportedly found scrawled on her door, but police have been unable to determine whether it had been put there ahead of the attack.

Yonathan Arfi, président du CRIF, sur l'agression d'une femme de confession juive: "On est face à un phénomène d'une intensité inédite en France" pic.twitter.com/c78HC4rLjw

— BFMTV (@BFMTV) November 5, 2023

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Attack of 'unprecedented intensity'

Yonathan Arfi, chairman of the CRIF – the representative council of Jewish institutions in France – told BFMTV that the Lyon attack was "a phenomenon of unprecedented intensity in France."

Meanwhile, the regional branch of the CRIF said the stabbing had "prompted great concern in the Jewish community" but also urged "caution," saying it was up to the judiciary to determine whether there had been an anti-Semitic motive to the attack.

The victim's lawyer, Stephane Drai, also told the BFMTV broadcaster that her family's Jewish faith was known in the neighbourhood.

Last week, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that since the 7 October attack against Israel by Hamas, there have been 857 anti-Semitic acts across France and 425 people have been arrested.