Rachid Kheniche admits murdering René Hadjadj but denies any antisemitic intent.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

A trial opened Monday in Lyon, France, to determine whether antisemitism motivated the 2022 murder of an elderly Jewish man by his neighbor.

Rachid Kheniche, 55, has admitted that he killed 89-year-old René Hadjadj by throwing him from the 17th floor of their apartment building, causing his immediate death.

He denies, however, that the victim’s religion played any role in the crime.

Kheniche told investigators that he was suffering a paranoid episode at the time and claimed he acted to “silence” Hadjadj, whom he accused of dropping by unannounced.

“I wasn’t feeling well, and I heard a voice telling me to throw him into the abyss,” he said.

After the killing, Kheniche reportedly tore up Hadjadj’s belongings and then returned to watching television.

Two psychiatric assessments conducted after his arrest found that Kheniche was mentally fit to stand trial and be held criminally responsible for his actions.

Under French law, a finding that the murder was motivated by antisemitism would constitute an aggravating circumstance, increasing the possible sentence from up to 30 years in prison to life.

The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) and the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA), which have joined the proceedings as civil parties, argue that Jew hatred was central to the crime.

“For us, the antisemitic nature of this crime is perfectly established,” said the groups’ lawyer, Frank Serfati.

French media reported that the two men lived alone on the same floor and regularly met for coffee or to discuss politics.

Kheniche’s attorney, Océane Pilloix, said her client was “not an antisemite at all,” describing him as a “sick man” and citing psychiatric findings of persecutory delusions and impaired judgment.

Police initially ruled out antisemitism, describing the killing as the result of a personal dispute.

That assessment changed following public outrage, particularly within the Jewish community, which was still outraged by the 2017 killing of Sarah Halimi and the court’s decision in the case.

Halimi, 65, was thrown from her apartment window by her neighbor, Kobili Traoré, who shouted antisemitic slurs.

France’s highest court later ruled Traoré not criminally responsible because he had ingested a large amount of marijuana, causing a psychotic episode, and sentenced him to hospitalization rather than prison.

In the current case, police later discovered several social media posts by Kheniche that angrily denounced people he identified as Jewish, even when they were not.

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Investigators will be able to more thoroughly examine the possibility that the suspect was radicalized and that the murder was premeditated.

By David Hellerman, World Israel News

In a reversal sought by French Jews, police are investigating the murder of an 89-year-old Jewish man as an act of antisemitism.

René Hadjaj was reportedly strangled, then pushed off the balcony on the 17th floor of an apartment building in Lyon on May 17. A 51-year-old man who lived in Hadjaj’s building confessed to the killing. The suspect’s name has not been released, but BNCVA — a Paris-based antisemitism watchdog — claimed that Hadjaj was acquainted with the suspect, who it said is a Muslim of Arab origin.

According to the Jewish Chronicle, by examining the murder as antisemitic, investigators will be able to examine the suspect’s phones and computers, do a more thorough background check to examine the possibility that the suspect was radicalized and that the murder was premeditated.

French investigators sparked Jewish anger by initially ruling out antisemitism as a motive, claiming the murder was the result of an argument between the two.

Many online users have pointed out the similarity between Hadjadj’s murder and that of Sarah Halimi, a 65-year-old Jewish woman who was thrown from the window of her Paris apartment by her Muslim neighbor shouting antisemitic epithets in 2017.

Outraging the Jewish community, the court ruled last year that her murderer, Kobili Traore, was not criminally responsible because he was experiencing a psychotic episode after smoking a large quantity of marijuana.

Also noted was the more recent case in February of Jérémie Cohen, who died after running into a tram while being chased by a gang that had beaten him up. Then, too, the police considered it simply an accident until the Cohen family, working alone, unearthed video evidence of the assault.

It is still unclear whether the motive was antisemitic in this case, but Cohen’s skullcap was found on the street near the spot where the incident occurred.

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The Jewish community has doubts, as René Hadjadj was pushed out a window like the late Sarah Halimi.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

French police have ruled out an antisemitic motive in the murder of an 89-year-old Jew in Lyons Tuesday, but the Jewish community has its doubts.

René Hadjadj was thrown over a 17th floor balcony after a dispute with a neighbor. His body was found by the police around 8 p.m.

French media reported that the police have arrested an unnamed 51-year-old suspect who said he pushed Hadjadj after an argument. The elderly man lived on the second floor of the building.

While booking the suspect for intentional homicide, the public prosecutor’s office and police “mentioned” the possibility that the murder was motivated by Jew-hatred, but then dismissed the idea.

Jewish media outlets as well as posters on social media have questioned whether the authorities are not rushing to this judgement too soon.

The Tribune Juive pointed out that “the neighborhood in question is part of the Lost Territories,” a term used for areas in French cities that have large immigrant populations that do not acculturate into French society and where violence is prevalent. According to an article by the French Jewish Defense League in Le Monde, the suspect is of Arab-Muslim extraction.

Many online users have pointed out the similarity between Hadjadj’s murder and that of Sarah Halimi, a 65-year-old Jewish woman who was thrown from the window of her Paris apartment by her Muslim neighbor shouting antisemitic epithets in 2017.

Outraging the Jewish community, the court ruled last year that her murderer, Kobili Traore, was not criminally responsible because he was experiencing a psychotic episode after smoking a large quantity of marijuana.

Also noted was the more recent case in February of Jérémie Cohen, who died after running into a tram while being chased by a gang that had beaten him up. Then, too, the police considered it simply an accident until the Cohen family, working alone, unearthed video evidence of the assault.

It is still unclear whether the motive was antisemitic in this case, but Cohen’s skullcap was found on the street near the spot where the incident occurred.

The National Bureau for Vigilance Against Antisemitism has demanded that antisemitism be retained as a possible motive in the Hadjadj case until it could be thoroughly investigated by the authorities.

A former tailor, Hadjadj lived in the Lyons neighborhood for 22 years. Neighbors shocked by his violent death said, “We all called him Uncle René.”

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