PARIS (EJP)---A 45-year-old Jewish man was stabbed in front of a kosher restaurant in the city of Villeurbanne, southern France on Tuesday in what authorities believe to be the latest in a series of anti-Semitic attacks in the country.

The victim, who is only being identified as "Eric", was rushed to hospital in the neary city of Lyon after suffering injuries on his left shoulder.

The attack occured around lunch time as he parked the car while his family went into the restaurant.

A few minutes later he entered the restaurant covered with blood, saying he had been stabbed by a young man on a bicycle.

Interior Minister alerted

Sammy Ghozlan, president of France’s Bureau of Vigilance Against anti-Semitism, said the attack was motivated by anti-Semitism and expressed its alarm at increasing numbers of anti-Semitic attacks.

Only last week a young Jewish woman was attacked in Marseilles
According to sources quoted by Ghozlan, the man was identified as a Jew because he was wearing a skull cap.

The Vigilance Bureau alerted the office of the Interior Minister and demanded that authorities act rapidly to find the attacker and to verify the anti-Semitic character of this attack.

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"We would like to draw your attention to the fact that several anti-Jewish aggressions took place almost consecutively over the last few weeks,” Ghozlan told the office.

He cited the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, the attack against a rabbi in a Paris railway station and the attack in Marseille.

"All these acts have stirred up strong emotional reactions in the Jewish community who seem to have become a favourite target for such acts, especially during this electoral period where tensions are exacerbated."

France is due to elect a new president next Sunday.