Orthodox Jews threatened by knife-wielding man in Switzerland

“The police do nothing” – Yeshiva students studying in Switzerland say a knife-wielding Arab man threatened to stab them, accuse local police of ignoring matter as suspect remains at large.

By World Israel News Staff

A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews studying in Switzerland have accused local authorities of failing to properly address threats of a potential stabbing attack after they were harassed by a knife-wielding man over the weekend.

The incident occurred in the city of Lucerne, in a German-speaking region of western Switzerland.

A group of 10 yeshiva students, including several Israelis, who are studying in a Swiss yeshiva were confronted Saturday night by a man they described as Arab.

The suspect approached the yeshiva students near a local train station at roughly 8:30 p.m., before the end of the Jewish Sabbath.

During the encounter, the suspect asked whether they were Jewish.

He then spat on them and drew a knife, which he used to threaten the yeshiva students.

“On Shabbat evening, my friends and I went for a walk in the city and arrived at the train station, where an Arab man approached us and asked if we were Jews,” one of the yeshiva students wrote on social media, according to a report by Yedioth Ahronoth.

With the help of passersby, the attacker was driven off.

“He spat on us. We tried to move away from him, but he wouldn’t back off, and at some point he pulled out a knife and pressed it to one friend’s stomach. Then locals intervened and he panicked.”

No injuries were reported in the incident.

Police were called to the scene, but did not apprehend the suspect, who had fled prior to their arrival.

In his social media post, the yeshiva student lamented that police appeared apathetic to the case.

“The police do nothing even when there is evidence.”

The students later returned to the scene of the incident and noted that the area has a number of security cameras, which likely recorded the crime.

No formal complaint has been filed in the matter, as the students were unable to sign the police complaint at the time of the incident during the Sabbath. The students are also unable to sign the complaint on Sunday, as local authorities only respond to emergency cases that day.

Police advised the students to submit their complaint on Monday.