(JTA) — The security service of Jewish communities in France alerted French Jews to “individuals pretending to be Jewish to gain access to community facilities.”
In a statement released Sept. 14, SPCJ also declared a state of elevated alertness during the High Holidays.
“This year we have noticed in France various suspected cases of intelligence gathering on Jewish targets,” the communique read.
“The new [Jewish] year will be celebrated at a time when the threat from terrorist attacks is particularly high,” it added. SPCJ requested that French Jews exercise vigilance at synagogue, Jewish schools and community gatherings.
On March 19, an Islamist extremist killed three children and a rabbi at the Otzar Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse. SPCJ documented more than 90 anti-Semitic incidents in the 10 days that followed the shooting.
In its announcement, SPCJ also referenced the July 18 terrorist attack in Bulgaria in which a suicide bomber killed himself and six others, including five Israelis, in an attack on a bus filled with Israeli tourists at the Burgas airport. Israel said Hezbollah was behind the attack.
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