In Los Angeles, a high-profile case of an attack on an elderly Jewish couple is being investigated. And this is not the first case of anti-Semitism in the city.
Rafi and Rebecca Nissel were walking to a synagogue in Beverly Hills when the elderly couple was attacked. “I was hit hard on the head with some object. For a couple of seconds, I didn’t understand what was happening. I’m sure I was attacked because I’m Jewish, I was dressed like they dress on Shabbat, a white shirt, a kippah,” says Rafi Nissel.
The attacker, says Rafi’s wife, Rebecca, told her: “Give me your earrings, Jew.” He was arrested almost immediately, but Rebecca can no longer walk quietly, even near the house. They still go to the synagogue, but now looking around.
“I have become more vigilant than I was before when going to the Synagogue, now I look carefully to make sure that no one is following us, I hold a whistle in my hand,” says Rebecca Nissel.
The Los Angeles prosecutor, George Gascon, took control of the investigation of this case. The attacker could face life in prison. This is not the first incident of anti-Semitism in Los Angeles in recent months. Last week, police arrested a man accused of vandalizing a synagogue, a church and several businesses in Burbank and Glendale in November 2023. The indictment says the man painted swastikas on those buildings. If convicted of all charges, the suspect faces 20 years in prison for hate crimes.
After the Hamas attack on Israel, security was increased in Jewish neighborhoods in Los Angeles. In Beverly Hills, where Rafi and Rebecca were attacked, more than half the city’s population is Jewish. In addition to the police, Beverly Hills is constantly patrolled by private security companies. Two and a half thousand cameras monitor the city 24 hours a day, and two drones constantly fly over Beverly Hills, monitoring the situation.
“We can’t prevent all crimes, but criminals need to know that if they commit crimes in our city, they will be caught,” says Beverly Hills Mayor Julian Gold. It was he who ordered that every Friday tables be set at the city hall in honor of the hostages kidnapped in Israel. The installation is called “Sabbath table”.
Installation at Beverly Hills City Hall “Saturday Table”
“October 7 was a tragedy for our city, many residents of Beverly Hills in Israel have families, some have loved ones serving in the army, some are in captivity, some died, our city is mourning. We’ve changed the Shabbat table tradition a bit in an attempt to give people a little hope that the hostages will return – we change the white chairs to blue when the hostages are released. Unfortunately, there are still not enough blue chairs, but we hope to change all the chairs to blue,” says Mayor Gold.
The tables at City Hall will be set until all the hostages return home, Beverly Hills authorities say. The installation is also carefully guarded.
