Elderly couple, 75 and 70, relive the moment they were attacked for being Jewish by a robber who shouted 'Give me your earrings, Jew' as they walked to the Beverly Hills Synagogue before chasing and catching him

An elderly couple on Saturday relived the moment they were robbed and brutally attacked because they were Jewish as they walked to the Beverly Hills Synagogue.

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

A tearful Rivka recalled how the suspect came from behind near the intersection of N. Rexford Drive and N. Santa Monica Boulevard to attack her husband as she shouted for him to “watch out!”

“Suddenly I saw the man hitting my husband with the belt and shouting, 'Give me your earrings, Jew,'” she said. shared with NBC.

'First there was the shock. There was a huge, hard blow to my forehead right here… I decided we couldn't just let it go,” Raphael said, explaining how he pursued the suspect.

Silagi tried to escape when his pants started to slide. As he ran, a Beverly Hills officer saw the commotion, intervened and arrested the attacker.

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

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

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

The incident occurred just after 9 a.m. Saturday, with officers responding 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 before police arrived,” a statement on X said.

“Following a search by Beverly Hills Police Department personnel, an individual matching the suspect's description was seen by a BHPD senior forensic specialist.

“Police officers used the information provided to quickly locate, arrest and identify the suspect.”

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

According to police, the victim was treated at the scene by firefighters and did not require further medical attention.

Raphael was left dazed and bloodied from the attack.

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

“After being hit in the head with a belt from behind and being outed as a Jew, my father picked himself up and successfully pursued the perpetrator with the help of the nearby Beverly Hills Police Department.”

Raphael regularly attends the synagogue and was expected to participate Saturday as a “lay reader” of Scripture, said Rabbi Pini Dunner of the Beverly Hills Synagogue.

He added that he had has been in contact with the victims since Saturday and explained that the couple was recognizable as Jewish in 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, Dunner said.

The victim's wife was unharmed, police said.

Silagi is being held on $100,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

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

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

Of the 312 incidents, 'approximately 190' were related to the conflict.

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

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

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

Also the ADL followed a wave of reports of anti-Muslim hatred across the country as the war continues.

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

According to the group, this is the highest level since 2015.

About 1,200 Jews have been murdered in Israel, especially when Hamas launched its bloody attack into the east on October 7.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded with a devastating bombardment of the Gaza Strip, driving an estimated 1.4 million people from their homes – out of the Gaza Strip's 2.3 million residents – and approximately 18,000