The Muslim expelled from Italy after attacking a rabbi: "My life is ruined"

Batar Zahani, a 21-year-old born in Italy, was deported to Tunisia after being involved in the attack on Rabbi Tzemach Mizrahi in Milan. In an interview, he claims the attack was a "bad joke" and that he does not hate Jews, and asks to return to Italy.

Batar Zahani, a 21-year-old born in Como, Italy, was deported to Tunisia after being involved in the attack on Rabbi Tzemach Mizrahi in Piazza Bande Nera in Milan in mid-September 2026. Zahani, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Parma and a civil defense volunteer, was documented along with two others beating the rabbi, stealing his hat, and mocking him. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced his deportation and that of another involved, emphasizing that Italy will not tolerate anti-Semitism. In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera from Tunisia, Zahani claims he did not attack the rabbi but only laughed, and that the incident was a bad "joke" and not an anti-Semitic act. He tearfully describes how he was arrested on his way to the police station and deported without saying goodbye to his family. Now in Tunisia, a country where he has never lived and whose language he does not know, he expresses despair and asks to return to Italy, while the authorities reject his request.