Argentina’s chief rabbi was assaulted in his Buenos Aires home on Monday by unknown assailants who broke in and told him they knew he was the country’s Jewish leader.

Gabriel Davidovich was hospitalised after he “suffered serious injuries due to the heavy blows he received”, according to a statement by Argentina’s Jewish community group Amia.

His wife is understood to have witnessed her husband being assaulted at their home.

A statement by Daia, the Delegation of Argentine Jewish Associations, said it was an antisemitic attack.

Daia president Jorge Knoblovits told Argentinian media that the chief rabbi had suffered nine broken ribs.

Repudiamos el ataque que sufrió el gran rabino Gabriel Davidovich en su casa. Lo acompañamos en su recuperación y tiene nuestro apoyo para que la investigación encuentre a los responsables.

— Mauricio Macri (@mauriciomacri) February 26, 2019

Argentina's president, Mauricio Macri, condemned the attack in a tweet that said he supported an investigation to find those responsible.

Argentinian newspaper reports suggested up to seven people broke into Chief Rabbi Davidovich’s home at for the attack at 2am on Monday morning.

They shouted “We know that you are the Amia rabbi” as they stole money and some of their belongings, Amia said.

Its statement called on Argentinian police to conduct a “quick and total” investigation into the attack.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said he telephone the chief rabbi on Tuesday.

“I am calling to find out how you are and to express my concern about the safety of the large Jewish community you lead,” he said, according to a statement released by the president's office.

“The State of Israel will do everything necessary to protect Jews wherever they choose to live and will take any steps to protect us from danger.
“We will not allow those who seek our harm us to pursue us.”

In the UK, Sheila Gewold from the Board of Deputies said she was “deeply shocked” by the attack.

She said: “It’s not the first time that the Argentinian Jewish community has been targeted. In these difficult times, UK Jews stand in solidarity with the Argentinian Jewish community.”

Gabriel Davidovich has been Argentina’s chief rabbi at Amia since 2013.

Last year a federal court in Buenos Aires confirmed the death of Jewish Argentine special prosecutor Albert Nisman was definitely homicide and not suicide.

Mr Nisman had been investigating that there had been an official cover-up following the terror attack on the Amia Jewish centre on July 18, 1994 that killed 85 people.