Teen Suspect In Stabbing Of Jewish Man In Zurich Expressed Solidarity With Islamic State Group

People take part in vigil at the Helvetia square in Zurich, Switzerland, Sunday, March 3, 2024. On Saturday evening, a young man had stabbed an orthodox Jew. (Walter Bieri/Keystone via AP)
People take part in vigil at the Helvetia square in Zurich, Switzerland, Sunday, March 3, 2024. On Saturday evening, a young man had stabbed an orthodox Jew. (Walter Bieri/Keystone via AP)

GENEVA (AP) — Swiss police say the 15-year-old suspect in the stabbing of an Orthodox Jewish man in Zurich over the weekend had appeared in a video expressing solidarity with the banned Islamic State group, and called himself a “soldier” in its self-described caliphate.

Zurich cantonal police security chief Mario Fehr told reporters Monday that authorities were investigating whether the teen, who was not identified, had acted alone or as part of a group. Officials said the suspect was a Swiss national.

“He refers to the IS (Islamic State), describes himself as a soldier of the caliphate,” Fehr said of the video that authorities had authenticated. He denounced the stabbing Saturday as a “terrorist” and “antisemitic” attack. The suspect was arrested at the scene.

In one video, the suspect referred to the attack in Arabic and called for a “battle against the Jews,” Fehr said.

Authorities said the 50-year-old victim was critically injured but his life was no longer in danger. Swiss police have stepped up security around certain sites with a Jewish connection as a precaution.

Switzerland was largely spared the extremist attacks across Western Europe and beyond in the mid-2010s, when the Islamic State group held large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria and was drawing radical fighters and others to join its self-described caliphate.

Jewish leaders, rights groups, authorities and others in Switzerland and beyond have decried a surge of antisemitism since the deadly Oct. 7 attacks and hostage-takings by Palestinian militants in Israel.

In response, the Israeli government has led a ferocious military campaign in Gaza, where the attacks were launched, that has killed at least 30,000 people, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory.