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French police have arrested a young man on suspicion of attacking a rabbi in broad daylight, a prosecutor said Sunday, shocking the Jewish community and prompting a wave of condemnation.

The attack against the Rabbi of Orleans, Arie Engelberg, happened as he walked with his nine-year-old son from synagogue on Saturday afternoon in the city, about 110 kilometres (68 miles) south of Paris.

Engelberg told BFM television that his attacker asked if he was Jewish. "I said yes."

"He started saying 'all Jews are sons of...," he said, adding that he wanted to film him with his phone as he hurled insults.

"I decided to act and I pushed his telephone away," the rabbi said. His attacker then "started punching and I protected myself", he added.

Engelberg said the suspect bit him until several people stepped in to help, he told the channel.

"I'm OK, thank God, my son, I'm getting better and better. We've had an enormous amount of support."

Police were checking the identity of the person in custody since he did not have documents on him when he was detained, Orleans prosecutor Emmanuelle Bochenek-Puren said.

Another source with knowledge of the case said the suspect arrested on Saturday night was known under at least three identities, one Moroccan and two Palestinian.

- Shaken -

France is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in the European Union.

On that date, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a cross-border attack in Israel, resulting in the death of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's subsequent military offensive on Gaza has killed more than 50,000 people, the majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run occupied Palestinian territory. The United Nations deems the figures reliable.

Andre Druon, a Jewish community leader in Orleans, said there had not been any incident in Orleans since October 7, 2023 "apart from some graffiti" before the "very violent" attack on the rabbi.

He said the rabbi was profoundly shaken when he recounted his ordeal to the community on Sunday.

Yann Dhieux, a locksmith, told AFP he had intervened with his arms wide and helped stop the assault, but that it was shocking to see the rabbi attacked in front of his young son.

Some 300 people gathered at the Bastille square in Paris to denounce the attack following an appeal by a Jewish students' association, and a silent march is planned for Tuesday evening in Orleans.

President Emmanuel Macron voiced solidarity with the rabbi's family and all French people of Jewish faith.

"Anti-Semitism is a poison," he wrote on X.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was "shocked" by the attack and called for "zero tolerance for anti-Semitism".

France witnessed some 1,570 anti-Semitic acts last year, the interior ministry says. They made up 62 percent of all acts of hatred on the basis of religion.

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© Agence France-Presse

Donald Trump's former lawyer argued that Elon Musk would be a major liability for his agenda moving forward.

The tech billionaire bought himself a prominent perch in the president's second administration by contributing more than $277 million to his 2024 re-election campaign, but former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen wrote on his Substack page that Musk would present a major political problem for Republicans.

"It takes a special kind of arrogance, bordering on megalomania, to look at a former astronaut, Navy captain, and combat veteran who nearly lost his wife to an assassination attempt and call him a traitor," Cohen wrote. "But that’s exactly what Elon Musk did to Senator Mark Kelly after the Arizona Democrat voiced his unwavering support for Ukraine. And in doing so, Musk just handed Donald Trump and the GOP another ticking time bomb set to detonate right in their laps."

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The South Africa-born Musk fancies himself a kingmaker in the Republican Party, Cohen wrote, but he has torched his credibility with veterans by cutting more than 80,000 jobs at the Veterans Administration and alienated others by attacking Kelly, who flew combat missions in Operation Desert Storm and served as a NASA astronaut.

"By attacking a decorated veteran, he’s driving even more of them away from the GOP; a party that still desperately needs their votes," Cohen wrote. "For Trump, this is disastrous. Veterans are still pissed with him, thanks to his documented history of calling them 'suckers' and 'losers,' disrespecting Senator John McCain by refusing to acknowledge him as a war hero, and botching policies meant to support them. Musk’s latest meltdown isn’t going to help. Veterans aren’t going to look at Musk’s unhinged ranting against Mark Kelly and think, 'Yeah, this guy speaks for me.' They’re going to see yet another wealthy, out-of-touch billionaire attacking one of their own; and by extension, themselves."

Cohen wrote that Republicans faced a long-term electoral crisis in the making as independents shift left and suburban voters turn against MAGA policies, and he said Musk's attacks on veterans presented another obstacle to retaining their congressional majorities in next year's midterms.

"The GOP’s continued obsession with Musk isn’t just bad politics; it’s electoral suicide," Cohen wrote. "They have hitched their wagon to a man who not only has no loyalty to their party but also thrives on controversy, chaos, and alienating crucial voting blocs. It’s a disaster in the making, and the worst part? They know it. They just don’t have the spine to do anything about it."

"Elon Musk may think he’s the future of American politics," Cohen added Wednesday. "But if he keeps this up, he’s going to make sure the GOP doesn’t have one."