Authorities in Nepal on Saturday arrested a Norwegian man whom they said broke into the Chabad House of Kathmandu and vandalized the place in a suspected antisemitic hate crime, the local rabbi told JNS.
“The perpetrator’s in custody and we’re still learning about the details of the case,” said Rabbi Chezki Lifshitz, who added that no one was hurt in the incident.
Police arrested the suspect shortly after he broke into the building, where thousands of Jews celebrated Passover last week, and broke glass and threw around furniture, according to Lifshitz. Security at the Chabad House has been beefed up, he said, but the institution’s activities will continue as scheduled.
At last week’s Passover Seder dinner, some 2,500 Jews, mostly from Israel, participated in what is often dubbed the largest Seder in the world. Attendance has grown gradually since Lifshitz and his wife, Hanni, established the Chabad House 20 years ago as emissaries of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement to the Asian country.
Antisemitic attacks are rare in Nepal, where many young Israelis travel. Israel’s National Security Council has no specific warnings regarding Nepal, which is estimated to be at the lowest risk level for Israelis.