French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced Saturday evening that Police had arrested a suspect in the car bomb attack outside the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte around 8:00 AM on Saturday.
? BREAKING NEWS
Another synagogue in France was targeted. An explosion at the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte, southern France, is treated as an arson with two cars exploding using a hidden gas bottle. A police officer was injured. Anti-Jewish hate crimes continue… pic.twitter.com/uxF3I9X6qs— (((Yuval David))) (@YuvalDavid) August 24, 2024
President Macron condemned the incident as a “terrorist act,” emphasizing ongoing efforts to apprehend the suspect. He stressed the importance of continuously combating antisemitism.
Prime Minister Attal, along with Interior Minister Darmanin, visited the site and met with local authorities. Attal expressed his and Darmanin’s shock and disgust at the attack, lamenting that French Jews were once again targeted for their faith.
Attal noted the attacker’s apparent resolve to inflict harm, suggesting that casualties might have occurred had the synagogue been occupied during the incident.
Minister Darmanin tweeted: “The antisemitic attack on a synagogue shocks, revolts, and scandalizes all Republicans in our country. I went to La Grande-Motte to tell our compatriots of the Jewish faith that the Republic will always stand by their side. Also to thank our law enforcement and emergency services who intervened with exceptional speed. We probably avoided an absolute tragedy.
“Finally, to ensure that our investigation and intelligence services deploy all necessary means to actively track down the suspect. Nearly 200 police officers and gendarmes are currently mobilized. To attack a French person because he is Jewish is to attack all French people. Tolerating or legitimizing verbal attacks is to open the way to physical attacks. Let us always stand against this. Let us live up to the Republic.”
Yonathan Arfi, president of the Council of Jewish Institutions in France, told AFP that the attack was “an attempt to kill Jews” and said that he welcomed the government’s vow to protect Jewish holy sites in the country so that “the Jews of France can live peacefully like all other French people.”
