Teenager arrested in Zurich after stabbing of Orthodox Jewish man

Zurich cantonal police are investigating the crime along with the juvenile prosecutor. KEYSTONE/© KEYSTONE / URS FLUEELER

Police are continuing enquiries after a fifteen-year-old was arrested on suspicion of stabbing an Orthodox Jew in the city on Saturday night. The man’s condition, initially life-threatening, has reportedly since stabilised.

Investigations by Zurich cantonal police and the juvenile prosecutor’s office have explicitly included the possibility of an anti-Semitic motive, police announced during the night of Saturday to Sunday.

The background and course of events were unclear at the time of the announcement. The attack took place in Zurich’s District 2. At 9.35 pm, a police operations centre received reports of an argument between several people.

The police and the juvenile prosecutor’s office are investigating in all directions. The Zurich city police promised further information on Sunday morning.

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Jehuda Spielman, a city councillor for the city of Zurich, knows the man who was attacked, he said on social media platform X. His condition has since “stabilised”, Spielman wrote.

In a statement, the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG) said it was “deeply shocked that a member of the community was the victim of such an attack”.

The security organisations of the Jewish community in Zurich and throughout Switzerland have been informed, the SIG said. Security arrangements would be reviewed, as is customary in such a case, and adjusted if necessary. The SIG expressed its condolences to the victim and his family.

Rising anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitic incidents have increased in Switzerland since the Hamas attack in Israel in October 2023 and the war in the Middle East. The Intercommunal Coordination Centre against Anti-Semitism and Defamation (CICAD) recently published figures showing that incidents motivated by anti-Semitism increased by 68% in French-speaking Switzerland in 2023. Almost half of these occurred after October 7.

At the beginning of February, the Swiss government said it planned to work with the 26 cantons to develop a strategy and an action plan against racism and anti-Semitism. It will also examine whether a new commissioner for combating racism and anti-Semitism should be appointed.

Translated from German by DeepL/dos

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