The teenager, who eventually managed to escape after striking the man with his knee, was given two days of sick leave for his injuries.
An investigation has been opened by the Lyon prosecutor’s office to establish the circumstances of the incident, according to French paper Le Progres.
Mohamed Chihi, deputy delegate for security to the mayor of Lyon, said: “An adult who attacks a 14-year-old child because he is Jewish: that is the embodiment of cowardice and hatred. In Lyon, as in France, antisemitism and all forms of racism and hatred are poisons that attack the Republic. They will not pass.”
Local authorities are appealing for witnesses or footage of the incident.
In a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron said “protecting France’s Jewish citizens from the rise in antisemitism has been an absolute priority of mine from day one.”
The French head of state was responding to Netanyahu’s concern about the “alarming rise” in antisemitism in France. Netanyahu accused France of pouring “fuel on this antisemitic fire” by planning to recognise Palestinian statehood in September.
