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Two men suspected in a Sept. 16 antisemitic attack on Chabad emissary Rabbi Tzemach Mizrahi at a Milan bus stop have been deported, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced on Monday.
“There is no place in our country for hatred and violence, and no antisemitic act will be tolerated,” Piantedosi said, confirming both had been repatriated.
Mizrahi, 51, leads Milan’s central Chabad synagogue on Via Soderini. He was waiting in Piazzale Bande Nere, in the western part of the city near a neighborhood with a large Jewish population, when three men surrounded him.
Shouting at him in Arabic, the men snatched his hat, put it on and mocked him. As Mizrahi filmed, one of them kicked him from behind and shoved him into the road before the three left. Not one of the roughly 20 people waiting at the stop intervened, Mizrahi said.
According to Milan’s Jewish community, his footage helped authorities locate the three suspects shortly afterward. Battar Zahani, 21, a Tunisian national, was sent to Tunisia, while the second man deported, a Moroccan national, has not been named. Battar’s brother, Ilyes Zahani, 20, is still in Italy awaiting trial under restrictive conditions.
Walker Meghnagi, head of Milan’s Jewish community, called the outcome “wonderful news.”
Mizrahi has said he will keep wearing his rabbinic clothing and will not hide his Jewish identity.
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Read more:
Three Men Attack Rabbi at Milan Bus Stop, Police Arrest One Suspect
