A Jewish man was attacked by a gang of masked thugs after they allegedly heard him speaking Hebrew on his mobile phone.

Shalev, who was visiting the UK from Israel, was standing on the porch of his Airbnb apartment in Golders Green, North London, to make a phone call at 2am on Monday.

Five masked men walking nearby overheard the 22-year-old and started chasing him.

When they caught him, they allegedly dragged him across the road and subjected him to a brutal assault, tearing his clothes and throwing away his shoes.

Shalev told the Mail: ‘I’m in shock, traumatised… It was so crazy, I thought I was going to be killed.’

It is claimed the victim was left close to losing consciousness. Pictures circulated on social media showed a man’s face with cuts and bruises.

The Jewish charity CST, which provides security patrols, said police were called by a neighbour who heard the disturbance, but the suspects fled before officers arrived.

Relatives of the victims said the thugs had been prowling the area ‘looking for Jews’ and there is concern that the attack could be linked to the group that torched Jewish Hartzola ambulances in the area at the same time of night in March.

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Pictures supplied by the Campiagn Against Antisemitism show the extent of the man’s injuries

Recounting the attack, Shalev said: ‘I went downstairs outside the house to speak on the phone.

‘I was speaking very quietly in Hebrew, I didn’t even speak much but they heard me speaking in Hebrew and at least five men or more with Arabic accents came up to me and asked if I was Jewish.

‘They then started to punch me repeatedly. They pulled me by my trousers and dragged me. The trousers ripped.

‘They were trying to pull them down, but I held on to them and they beat me for a good five minutes before running off. They were punching me in the stomach and in the face.

‘My instinct was to protect my head with my hands. I didn’t really see them. I closed my eyes. It’s all a blur.

‘But I think because I have these scratches on my nose, they must have had something metal. They were seen on CCTV, but the attack wasn’t captured.

‘Several of them are already known to the police. I was in so much shock from the event that on some level I was in denial, it’s all a blur.

‘I am only speaking to the media to raise awareness about this.

‘I have cousins here in London. They have kids. They are like my brothers. It is crazy that these people can just walk down the street near your house.

‘Until now I felt this was detached from me, I felt fine, I have a lot of friends here and I really like London.

‘Something must be done about this. I want to stay in London but we need to fight this. This is an unbearable situation.

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The man was allegedly attacked after four masked men heard him speaking Hebrew on his mobile phone outside his flat in Golders Green, North London

‘The kind of beating I got is the act of animals.’

Shalev’s 39-year-old cousin, who asked not to be named, told the Daily Mail: ‘They dragged him onto a specific street where there is no CCTV. They started to hit him in his face, his body.

‘They tried to pull his trousers down to humiliate him. They were shouting at him in Arabic: “You Jewish? You Muslim or Jewish?”

‘He didn’t answer, he just closed his eyes. He went into survival mode and put his hands on his face to protect his face as much as possible.

‘They hit him for minutes, he was shouting for help. They were swearing at him, calling him a b***h in Arabic.

‘Then they took one of his shoes and ran away, obviously to humiliate him. One of the neighbours heard, she was quite scared as she thought he might be one of the criminals.

‘He said, “Don’t worry, I speak Hebrew, I’m Jewish.” Then he spoke in Hebrew and asked her to call the police, which she did.’

The cousin said Shalev has been left ‘deeply traumatised’ by the attack which they fear was ‘highly organised’.

‘The police said they could see them walking the streets looking for someone to attack,’ the mother-of-three said.

‘I don’t understand why young people need to be on the street, covering their faces, looking for Jewish people to attack.

‘It is next-level terrifying. It could be anyone. It could be my son next week. It’s very bad. It could have been much worse if they had a knife.’

A CST spokesman said: ‘This was a violent and appalling attack in the heart of Golders Green.

‘CST is providing support to the victim and his family. We urge anyone who witnessed what happened, to contact the police and CST immediately.

‘At a time of heightened antisemitism, incidents like this underline the very real dangers facing Jewish communities.’

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘It is plain for all to see that Jewish lives are under threat in their own communities.

‘We cannot wait any longer for real intervention against this horrific wave of violence against Britain’s Jews.

‘We are in dire need of urgent action.’

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘Officers attended within six minutes and spoke to the victim, a man in his 20s, who later attended hospital with injuries to his face and back.

‘The assault is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime. No arrests have been made at this stage and police enquiries continue.’

It comes after two ambulances belonging to Jewish charity Hatzola were set on fire in Golders Green in March. Three men and a teenager have been charged with arson.

On April 29, two Jewish men were stabbed as they walked in Golders Green. Essa Suleiman, 45, is accused of attempted murder and will stand trial in March next year.

Suleiman is also accused of attempting to murder a Muslim friend hours before the Golders Green incident.