Tearful elderly couple, 75 and 70, relive moment they were attacked for being Jewish by robber who screamed ‘Give me your earrings, Jew’ as they walked to Beverly Hills Synagogue before they chased him down and caught him

An elderly couple relived the moment they were robbed and brutally assaulted for being Jewish as they walked to a Beverly Hills synagogue on Saturday.

Rafael Nissel, 75, was beaten belt buckle and left with cuts to his head after Jarris Jay Szilagyi, 44, of Los Angeles, hit him around 9 a.m. Dec. 9 while he was walking with his wife, Rivka.

Rivka tearfully recalled how the suspect approached from behind near the intersection of N. Rexford Drive and N. Santa Monica Boulevard to attack her husband as she urged him to “watch out!”

“Suddenly I saw a guy hit my husband with a belt and shouted: “Give me your earrings, Jew,” she said. general with NBK.

“At first there was shock. This is where I got hit hard on the forehead… I decided we can’t just leave it like that,” Rafael said, explaining how he pursued the suspect.

Szilagyi tried to escape, but his pants began to slip down. While he was running, a Beverly Hills police officer saw the commotion and intervened, arresting the assailant.

Charges against the suspect include assault with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery, hate crimes and elder abuse.

“This heinous act of hatred against a member of our community will not be tolerated,” BHPD Chief Mark Stainbrook said in a statement.

Rafael was treated at the scene by the Beverly Hills Police Department. said.

The incident occurred just after 9 a.m. Saturday when officers responded to the area of ​​N. Rexford Drive and N. Santa Monica Boulevard after receiving a report of an assault with a deadly weapon.

“The suspect fled the scene before police arrived,” said a statement published on X.

“Following a search by members of the Beverly Hills Police Department, a BHPD senior forensic scientist witnessed a person matching the suspect’s description flee.

“Officers used the information provided to quickly locate, apprehend and identify the suspect.”

Chief Stainbrook added, “Our officers quickly apprehended the suspect and he is in custody.”

The victim was treated by fire officials at the scene and did not require further medical attention, according to police.

Raphael was stunned and bloodied by the attack.

Alan Nissel shared a photo of the bloody shirt on Channel X on December 10, writing: “Yesterday, on the way to synagogue, my father (75) and mother (70) were attacked.

“After being hit in the back of the head with a belt and being called a Jew, my father pulled himself together and successfully pursued the perpetrator with the help of the nearby Beverly Hills Police Department.”

Raphael regularly attends the synagogue and was expected to attend as a “lay reader” of scripture on Saturday, said Rabbi Pini Danner of the Beverly Hills synagogue.

He added that he had spoke with the victims since Saturday and explained that the couple were recognizable as Jewish, wearing black and white clothing and with the victim wearing a yarmulke.

“He went home, changed his shirt and came to the synagogue” after the attack, Danner said.

According to police, the victim’s wife was not injured.

Szilagyi is being held on $100,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in Los Angeles Airport Court on Tuesday.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas has sparked strong international reactions, ranging from peaceful protests to violent acts of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

The Anti-Defamation League reported a nearly 400 percent spike in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States between October 7 and October 23.

Of the 312 incidents, “about 190” were related to the conflict.

A recent report provided by the advocacy group found that 73 percent of college students surveyed have experienced or witnessed some form of anti-Semitism since the start of the 2023-2024 school year alone. Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.

Before this school year, 70 percent of Jewish college students experienced at least some form of anti-Semitism throughout their college years, the ADL reports. reported.

Since Oct. 7, the number of students who felt “very” or “extremely” comfortable with others knowing they were Jewish fell from 63.7 percent to just 38.6 percent.

ADL also are tracked a surge in reports of anti-Muslim hatred across the country as the war rages on.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it also received 774 complaints about incidents motivated by Islamophobia and bias against Palestinians and Arabs from October 7 to 24.

The group said this was the highest level since 2015.

About 1,200 Jews were killed in Israel, mostly during Hamas’ bloody offensive into the east on October 7.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded with a devastating bombing of the Gaza Strip, which forced approximately 1.4 million people from their homes (out of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents) and killed approximately 18,000