A tram in Munich, Germany. Photo: Maurits90 via Wikimedia Commons.

A German government official has criticized bystanders for a “lack of civil courage” after a Munich rabbi was verbally accosted last week.

Last Thursday evening, Rabbi Shmuel Aharon Brodman was followed after he got off a tram by four men who showered him with personal insults and anti-Israel comments.

According to the victim, the assailants spoke English to him and conversed in Arabic among themselves.

Ludwig Spaenle — the Bavarian commissioner on combating antisemitism — said, “I’m particularly concerned about the fact that citizens who obviously saw the incident did not rush the aid of the rabbi or informed the police.”

“We cannot allow people of Jewish faith to be victims of assault and insults,” he added. “An attack on Jews is always an attack on … society.”

A similar antisemitic incident took place in Munich last August.