The facade of the local office of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) in Grenoble is defaced with antisemitic graffiti. Photo: Screenshot

French authorities have launched an investigation after antisemitic graffiti and death threats were discovered on several public buildings, prompting outrage from the local Jewish community as it continues to face relentless targeting amid a growing wave of antisemitism in France.

On Thursday, antisemitic and hateful slogans were scrawled on the local office of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) — the main representative body of French Jews — in Grenoble, a city in southeastern France.

Unknown individuals also vandalized the offices of municipal candidate Hervé Gerbi, the former chair of CRIF’s Grenoble branch until 2024.

“I am aware that there are still voters to be convinced. The message written on the door of my office is an illustration of this. We must convince people that security is the first of freedoms and that secularism is our common good,” Gerbi said in a statement.

In this latest attack, the buildings were defaced with graffiti reading “A slow and painful death to every member of the CRIF,” “F–k the CRIF,” and “Goy Power,” a phrase linked to online white supremacist and antisemitic movements.

A Grenoble, voilà les menaces de mort taguées cette nuit sur les bureaux du président du Crif Grenoble Dauphiné, Eric Hattab, et de son prédécesseur, Hervé Gerbi.

La haine des Juifs s’est banalisée. Quand réagira-t-on?

Nous ne laisserons personne intimider les Français juifs. pic.twitter.com/oSBAapLEmX

— Yonathan Arfi (@Yonathan_Arfi) October 16, 2025

Local police have opened an investigation into the incident after Gerbi and CRIF filed a complaint, though no arrests have been made so far.

Yonathan Arfi, president of CRIF, strongly condemned the incident as part of an ongoing surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes that has only intensified since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in October 2023.

“Hatred against Jews has become widespread. When will there be a response?” Arfi wrote in a post on X. “We will not let anyone intimidate the Jewish community in France.”

Éric Hattab, head of CRIF in the region, also condemned the incident, warning that many Jews — particularly younger members of the community — are considering leaving France amid the growing climate of hostility.

“It doesn’t scare me at all. If they’re trying to intimidate me, it’s a waste of time. I will continue my mission to serve the Jewish community in Grenoble without letting these threats and graffiti deter me,” Hattab said in a statement.

“Today, we hide our Jewish identity, no one wears a kippah anymore, we remove the mezuzah, we avoid being recognized,” he continued.

“Entering a synagogue wondering if there will be an attack is unprecedented and unbearable,” Hattab said, urging a nationwide stand against hatred.

In a press release, Grenoble Mayor Éric Piolle also condemned the incident, saying he was “deeply shocked” by such hatred.

“We must continue to fight this poison that is antisemitism with all our strength, without respite,” Piolle said.

Omer Adam performing at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 19, 2025. Photo: Shiryn Ghermezian/The Algemeiner

Israeli-American pop singer Omer Adam performed a sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday night and opened his show with a special tribute to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Israeli hostages returning home from Hamas captivity in Gaza, and US President Donald Trump.

Before Adam came out on stage in front of 20,000 people, screens behind the stage showed footage from the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, followed by videos and photos of IDF soldiers fighting in Gaza. The screens then displayed clips of the former hostages reuniting with their families in Israel and concluded with footage from Trump’s address to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, last week.

Trump traveled to Israel last week and spoke at the Knesset after his administration brokered the ceasefire and hostage-release deal to halt fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. All the living hostages still in captivity were released as part of the agreement.

The audience at Adam’s concern saw excerpts from Trump’s speech in which he said, “The State of Israel is strong, and will live and thrive forever,” “I love Israel,” and “Never Forget. Never Again.”

Before Omer Adam came out on stage at MSG last night, the audience saw this video montage that paid tribute to the returned hostages and President Trump. pic.twitter.com/GWZeUyeR7S

— Shiryn Gher (@ShirynGhermez) October 20, 2025

Adam, 32, then made his entrance on stage to perform a medley of songs that included tracks from his latest album, “Symptoms of a Breakup,” as well as some of his classic hits, such as “Tel Aviv” and “Hopa.” He also welcomed Israeli singer Odeya on stage and together they performed their collaboration “Shushi” before Odeya performed a solo song.

Adam paused the concert early on to thank American Jews for their support for Israel amid its war against Hamas in Gaza and to praise IDF soldiers, including reservists and active-duty troops, who he described as “the strongest and most moral army in the world.” He also thanked Trump “and his senior diplomatic team for their unwavering support” for the citizens of Israel. The singer concluded by shouting “Am Israel Chai” (“Long Live Israel”).

Later in the show, Adam led the crowd in singing the Jewish prayer songs “Modeh Ani” and “Vehi Sheamda,” which is about God’s promise to protect the Jewish people. During a portion of the concert where Adam again talked about the hostages and showed images of their emotional reunion with their families, he also urged people to continue to pray for the fallen hostages whose bodies are still being held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. “May they soon be brought back for burial in Israel,” Adan told the crowd.

Hamas has still not handed over the remains of 15 deceased hostages, violating its obligation under the ceasefire to release everyone who was abducted during the Oct. 7 atrocities.

Adam is Israel’s most successful singer of all time, with over 1.4 billion views collectively on YouTube. His concert on Sunday night was attended by some celebrity guests as well, including Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli, jewelry designer Lorraine Schwartz, and actress Sofia Vergara. After the show, hundreds of fans gathered outside Madison Square Garden to collectively sing the Hebrew song “Avinu Shebashamayim,” also known as the Prayer for the State of Israel.

The scene outside of Madison Square Garden after Omer Adam’s sold-out concert last night pic.twitter.com/JI1PjnUzBw

— Shiryn Gher (@ShirynGhermez) October 20, 2025

Upwards of 10,000 haredi Orthodox Jewish men protested on Sunday night outside the Israeli consulate in New York City against the conscription of Orthodox Jews in the Israeli military.

The protest, which was organized by the Central Rabbinical Congress, a consortium of Orthodox Jewish groups, comes amid one of Israel’s tensest political debates: whether haredi men should be subjected to the draft.

Last year, the Israeli Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Israel must draft haredi Orthodox Jews into its army, ending the longstanding exemption for yeshiva students from military service that has existed since the country’s founding.

Since then, haredi men have staged frequent street protests in Israel, including outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, and the debate reached a new flashpoint last month when over 100 haredi Orthodox men were arrested for draft-dodging while attempting to leave the country for an annual pilgrimage for Rosh Hashanah.

Now, the protest movement has spilled over to New York, home to the large haredi communities outside of Israel. At the rally Sunday night, rabbinic leaders from the anti-Zionist Satmar hasidic sect and Grand Rebbes spoke from cherry pickers above the protesters, who held signs reading “We would rather die as Jews than live as Zionist soldiers,” and “Stop terrorizing religious Jews,” according to footage of the event.

“Americans are unaware of Israel’s horrific treatment of Orthodox Jews. From night raids in Orthodox neighborhoods to checkpoints to arrests of Yeshiva students, Israel is persecuting the very religious people that it claims to protect,” said Rabbi Isaac Green, one of the New York protest’s organizers, in a statement. “Israel should not force Orthodox Jews to join an anti-religious army to fight wars against their religion.”

Ultra-Orthodox Jews demonstrate outside of the Israeli consulate in New York City. (Solomon Fox)

Rabbis Aaron and Zalman Teitelbaum, the two rival leaders of the Satmar sect, both urged their followers to join in the demonstration, marking one of the rare times they have organized over the past two years due to their policy of not protesting against Israel during times of war.

As more men arrived at the demonstration, the mass of protesters began spilling onto the street, leading to some clashes and shoving matches with police officers trying to control the crowd, according to amNewYork.

Currently, around 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men in Israel are believed to be eligible for service, and the IDF has called for 12,000 recruits to meet the needs posed by the war in Gaza.

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