Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum, 71, who was murdered in Switzerland this past Thursday night, will be buried in Israel this evening. Married with 11 children, Rabbi Greenbaum was collecting funds for the Kollel [full-time Torah study program for married men] that he headed in Bnei Brak. Several of his children are married, and another daughter was scheduled to be married in two weeks. A Moslem has been arrested in connection with the murder, but Swiss police would not confirm that it was an anti-Israeli or anti-Semitic crime. Israeli and Jewish sources in Zurich feel that many clues lead to the conclusion that it was an anti-Semitic hate crime, but the police continue to check all avenues.
Deputy Foreign Minister Rabbi Michael Melchior (Labor) told Arutz-7 today that he has just returned from a visit to Jewish communities in Europe: \"I wouldn\'t say they live in fear; they rather have an awareness of the latent anti-Semitism. Security has been beefed up... There have been 250-300 violent anti-Semitic incidents throughout the world since the current intifada flared up, with the list headed by France, Canada, and Australia. Most of them were directed against religious people and institutions, and this fits in with the intention of those who wish to turn our struggle here in Israel as a religious dispute between Moslems and Jews... I and other Israeli officials have met with government leaders, and in fact we have seen that wherever the authorities have responded strongly, there has been a drop in anti-Semitic incidents.\"
Deputy Foreign Minister Rabbi Michael Melchior (Labor) told Arutz-7 today that he has just returned from a visit to Jewish communities in Europe: \"I wouldn\'t say they live in fear; they rather have an awareness of the latent anti-Semitism. Security has been beefed up... There have been 250-300 violent anti-Semitic incidents throughout the world since the current intifada flared up, with the list headed by France, Canada, and Australia. Most of them were directed against religious people and institutions, and this fits in with the intention of those who wish to turn our struggle here in Israel as a religious dispute between Moslems and Jews... I and other Israeli officials have met with government leaders, and in fact we have seen that wherever the authorities have responded strongly, there has been a drop in anti-Semitic incidents.\"