Yaakov Hagoel
Yaakov HagoelHezki Baruch

Yaakov Hagoel, acting chairman of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), on Sunday called for those responsible for an anti-Semitic attack on a French Jewish leader and his family in Paris to be brought to justice.

"This is a worrying incident, the likes of which has already happened in France,” Hagoel told Arutz Sheva from China, where he is currently visiting.

“It is true that such an incident occurring should not surprise us - but in the last year the French government has been working against anti-Semitism using legislation, enforcement and punishment and is working to preserve the Jewish places in the country,” he continued.

“I call on the French government to find the criminals and to bring them to justice,” added Hagoel.

In the attack on Thursday night, three men, two of whom were wearing masks, broke into the home of Roger Pinto, the president of a group that represents Sephardic Jews.

The attackers beat Pinto’s son and wife in the home, with one of them saying, “You Jews have money,” according to the family members.

Last month, a man threatened a Jewish man with a knife in the southern city of Cannes in front of his wife and child.

In April, a Muslim murdered Sarah Halimi, 66, who served as a teacher for many years at a Jewish school in Paris.

A Muslim attacker stabbed her, then threw her from her third story apartment to her death.