Swiss president says ‘antisemitism has no place’ in country after Jewish man stabbed
President Viola Amherd says she is ‘shocked’ by attack; 15-year-old suspect pledged allegiance to Islamic State, called for global fight against Jews

GENEVA, Switzerland — The Swiss president insisted Monday that “antisemitism has no place in Switzerland,” after the brutal stabbing over the weekend of an Orthodox Jewish man, allegedly by a teenager pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group.
“The knife attack in Zurich shocked me,” President Viola Amherd wrote on X, adding that her thoughts were with the victim and all Jewish citizens in the country.
Her comment came after the 50-year-old Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed in Switzerland’s largest city late Saturday, with police initially saying he had been “critically injured.”
The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities however told the Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS news agency Monday that the man’s life was no longer in danger.
A police statement on Sunday said the motives for the attack remained unclear but that investigators were looking into the possibility that it was an “antisemitic crime.”
A 15-year-old Swiss boy with a Tunisian background is suspected of carrying out the attack, the youth prosecutor’s office said Monday, adding that it was holding him in custody.
Der Messerangriff in Zürich schockiert mich. Ich denke an den verletzten Mann und unsere jüdischen Mitbürgerinnen und Mitbürger. #Antisemitismus hat keinen Platz in der Schweiz. Die Justiz muss die Fakten klären und ihren Weg gehen. pic.twitter.com/oudsCDoe47
— Viola Amherd (@Violapamherd) March 4, 2024
The suspect had made a video claiming responsibility for the attack, Zurich cantonal police chief Mario Fehr confirmed, during a press conference.
In the video, the teenager voices his allegiance to the Islamic State jihadist group and called for fighting Jews around the world, police said, according to Keystone-ATS.
The youth prosecutor’s office meanwhile said investigators were looking into whether the attacker acted alone.
Police in Zurich announced Sunday they were hiking security around Jewish institutions as a “precautionary measure.”
The Zurich-based Foundation Against Racism and antisemitism condemned the attack, saying that witnesses had heard the alleged perpetrator shout “antisemitic slogans that suggest a hate crime.”
“It was not just an isolated case,” it said in a statement. “Since the escalation in the Middle East, antisemitic incidents in Switzerland have skyrocketed.”
Antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes have been on the rise in many countries since October 7 when Hamas-led terrorists broke through the border with Israel and slaughtered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, taking 253 hostages to Gaza.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.