Almost half of Jewish communities report anti-Semitic incidents

Almost every second Jewish community in Germany has reported anti-Semitic incidents such as insults, hate speech, threats or vandalism, according to a report by the country's Central Council of Jews.

In the survey, 46 of 102 communities reported such incidents in the previous 12 months. Half of those cases involved property damage or graffiti on buildings.

It was the third survey of Jewish community leaders since the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel. Some 68% of Jewish communities in Germany say life has felt less safe since then, although the figure has fallen from 84% in 2024.

For 61% of communities, the October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has not changed the situation in Germany. Some 18% reported an improvement, while 13% said the situation had worsened.

The war launched by Israel and the United States against Iran in February has made the situation worse for Jewish communities in Germany, according to 62% of those surveyed.

Josef Schuster, the head of the Central Council of Jews, said the results showed that since the October 2023 attack a "new normal" of serious security concerns had developed for Jews in Germany.

It was "a situation in which Jewish communities must be protected permanently and anti-Semitism has become normalized as part of public life, a situation in which even graffiti openly calling for the murder of Jews in the middle of Berlin does not trigger a storm of outrage," Schuster said.

"These conditions are untenable," he added.