Buenos Aires rabbi injured in violent carjacking on way to prayers
Four men reportedly jump into Daniel Sutton Dabbah’s car, beat him, steal vehicle with him still inside and then dump him on the street several blocks away
A rabbi in Buenos Aires was injured Wednesday when a group of men carjacked his vehicle outside his home as he was heading to prayers, the AJN news agency reported.
Community sources identified the victim as Daniel Sutton Dabbah of the Od Yosef Hay community in the Argentinian capital.
Dabbah was hospitalized at the Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires, where he was treated for face injuries he sustained during the assault in the Abasto neighborhood.
A community source told the news agency that four men climbed into Dabbah’s car as he was about to drive away. The rabbi tried to get the men out of the car but they hit him in the head and face.
They then tied him up, took his house keys from him and tried to gain access to his home, which they apparently failed to do.
The attackers then stole the car, with the rabbi still in it, dumping him a few blocks away.
The source speculated that rather than being motivated by anti-Semitism, the incident was a violent robbery.
Argentine Rabbi attacked in violent robbery at Buenos Aires, Argentina
"The Rabbi is Daniel Sutton Dabbah, from community of Od Yosef Chai…victim of a violent assault in the front door of his house in the neighborhood of Abasto."https://t.co/wROwEfzebJ
— (((Bennett Ruda))) (@daledamos) September 4, 2019
In June Argentinean and international Jewish organizations demanded action from local and regional authorities following a spate of violent anti-Semitic attacks in the country.
That came after a rabbi, Shlomo Tawil, was assaulted in Rosario in what was the third physical anti-Semitic assault in the space of two months. The other two both took place in Buenos Aires, one in April and one in May. Such assaults had previously been rare.
In February the chief rabbi of Argentina, Gabriel Davidovich, was beaten and seriously injured by a group of up to seven assailants who broke into his Buenos Aires home in the middle of the night. The attackers then stole some 200,000 Argentine pesos (roughly $5,000) in cash, as well as valuable jewelry and a Haredi-style black hat.
Davidovich was hospitalized with serious injuries, including nine broken ribs and a punctured lung. The intruders reportedly shouted: “We know you are the rabbi of the Jewish community” during the attack.
Police said at the time the attack was well-planned and the attackers knew the identity of the residents living there. In the months that followed at least six suspects were arrested in connection with the crime.
Argentina has about 180,000 Jews out of a population of over 44 million.
The Times of Israel Community.