Two Jewish men sustained injuries after being attacked outside a supermarket in Melbourne on Sunday night – one in a series of recent attacks in the area after legislation was passed to ban the public display of Nazi swastikas.

One of the victims, Yaakov Gozlan, told The Age that he was leaving Coles Supermarket when he saw an individual attacking an Orthodox Jewish man.

“He was holding the religious man’s hat behind his back and pushing him back with the other hand towards a transit van,” Gozlan said. “I said to him ‘I’m Jewish, he’s Jewish, leave us alone’, and he started bashing me straight away.”

Gozlan says he was gouged in both eyes during the ensuring altercation, leaving him with severe bruising and lacerations, and forcing him to spend the night in a hospital.

Police said they arrested a 33-year-old man over the incident, though no charges had been filed at the time of their statement.

“A 50-year-old man stepped in to assist after witnessing another man being allegedly subjected to anti-Semitic abuse. Upon doing so, the man was allegedly punched and knocked to the ground by a 33-year-old man,” a police spokeswoman said.

“Victoria Police understand incidents of anti-Semitism can leave communities feeling targeted, threatened, and vulnerable. We treat any reports of anti-Semitism seriously,” she added.

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