Arrest after stabbings at rabbi’s home

A SUSPECT is in custody and will face five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary following a stabbing at a rabbi’s home that left five people injured.

The Saturday night stabbings in Monsey, near New York City, on the seventh night of Hanukkah, came on the heels of a string of attacks targeting Jews in the region.

One person was very seriously wounded and remained in a critical condition. The rabbi’s son was also injured, but his condition and that of the other victims was unclear.

A witness saw the suspect fleeing in a car and alerted police to the licence plate number, local authorities said.

Police were then able to find his vehicle and apprehend him as he entered New York City.

While authorities did not provide a motive for the attack, New York’s governor said there was no doubt it had been fuelled by hate.

Andrew Cuomo said: “This is an intolerant time in our country.

“We see anger, we see hatred exploding.”

He added: “It is an American cancer on the body politic.”

He said he felt the crime was an act of domestic terrorism.

The large home on Forshay Road remained cordoned off with yellow crime-scene yesterday. According to public records, the home belongs to Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg, who leads the adjacent synagogue.

Jewish communities in the region are already shaken. Earlier this month, a shooting rampage at a Jersey City kosher market led to the deaths of six people.

Three people who had been inside the store, a police officer and the two killers died in the gun battle and stand-off.

Last month, a man was stabbed while walking to a synagogue in the same town that was the site of Saturday night’s attack.