A rabbi and his students were attacked and robbed in Panasesti during a camping and fishing trip on Thursday morning. "A group of eight or nine local young men aged 16 to 20 treacherously attacked the sleeping campers in the early hours of the morning, beat them up and took away all the money the rabbi had for food and the way home (about 300 euro)," a source at the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS told Interfax-Religion.
"I have no doubts that the attack was anti-Semitic," said Rabbi Israel Livshits, head of the Jewish community at the cultural and religious center in Chisinau, about his experience. A federation spokesman said the youngsters "shook the rabbi, tore at his beard and shouted out anti-Semitic insults in the presence of his pupils.” Some of the attackers were detained and an investigation has been launched.