Jewish Father Attacked in Berlin in Front of His Children, Israeli Bystander Stops Suspect

A Jewish family was attacked on Saturday afternoon in Berlin’s Charlottenburg district, in what local reporting described as a serious antisemitic assault. Rabbi Aviezer Kantor, who serves as a supervisor at the city’s Chabad House, was walking home from Shabbat prayers with his two young children when a 31-year-old man, said to be of Arab origin, confronted them on Uhlan Road at about 3:15 p.m.

According to the account, the suspect hurled insults and threats at the family, then escalated to physical violence against Kantor. He also spat on the father and on the two children, who were standing nearby and were terrified during the attack.

The situation changed when an Israeli citizen who witnessed the assault intervened. He rushed at the attacker, overpowered him, and held him down for several minutes until police arrived. Berlin police then took the suspect into custody, and he remained under arrest pending investigation.

German authorities have opened an official review to determine whether the assault was clearly motivated by antisemitism. The attack has alarmed Berlin’s Jewish community, which says its sense of security in public has been deteriorating in recent years, especially for people wearing visible Jewish symbols. The incident comes as Germany reports 8,700 antisemitic incidents in 2025, including hate speech, graffiti, online threats, and violent assaults.