A band of criminals broke through the roof of the Buenos Aires home of Argentina’s chief rabbi, Gabriel Davidovich, at 2am, beat him, tied up his wife and escaped with valuables in an attack some have called a hate crime.
“We know you’re the Rabbi of AMIA [Argentine Israelite Mutual Association],” was reportedly the last thing a masked man told Davidovich before the “savage” assault which left him hospitalized with serious injuries, including nine broken ribs.
AMIA, whose building was bombed in 1994, resulting in the deaths of 85 people, has expressed “deep unease” at the attack and what was said to Davidovich, who has headed the organization since 2013.
“We can’t be 100 percent sure this is an antisemitic crime, but we are discovering new details all the time,” said Chief Rabbi of Mexico Shlomo Tawil, who spoke to Davidovich and highlighted the links with the bombing 25 years ago, whose perpetrators were never caught.
Israeli politicians have been less circumspect about the alleged motives for targeting such a high-profile public figure for a robbery.
“This is a hate crime, the result of antisemitism rising around the world,” the social equality minister, Gila Gamilel, said.
“We are together with you in the struggle against antisemitism, in Argentina, in France, or anywhere else where the darkness tries to hurt us,” the leader of the Labor party, Avi Gabbay, stated.
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