Germany is currently grappling with a significant surge in antisemitic incidents, as authorities warn that extremist groups are leveraging the Middle East conflict to fuel anti-Jewish sentiments, rally their base, and incite harassment and violence against Jewish communities.
According to a report from the Hessian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, these extremist networks are using the Israel-Hamas conflict and other regional disputes as a platform to intensify antisemitic rhetoric. The report highlights accusations of “genocide” in Gaza and characterizations of Israel as a colonial power, which authorities say are increasingly used to rationalize animosity and, in some instances, violence towards Jews.
Roman Poseck, the Interior Minister for the German state of Hesse, has expressed concern over this alarming trend.
“Antisemitism poses one of the most significant threats to our social unity — particularly from Islamist and left-wing extremist groups,” Poseck stated in a recent declaration.
This growing issue extends beyond Germany, prompting warnings from officials and Jewish leaders about similar antisemitic rhetoric linked to Middle Eastern conflicts surfacing in other Western democracies, including the United States. Given Germany’s historical context and its legal stance on hate speech, these developments are seen as an early indicator of how extremist ideas can infiltrate mainstream dialogue.
An individual waves an Israeli flag during an anti-antisemitism demonstration at the Brandenburg Gate, as tensions persist between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Berlin, Germany, on December 10, 2023. (Lisi Niesner/Reuters)
Poseck, who commissioned the report of the Hessian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, warned of a deteriorating social climate, saying that “antisemitic sentiments are becoming increasingly intolerable, even in public spaces.”
“I am deeply ashamed of what Jews in Germany have to endure 80 years after the end of the Second World War,” he continued. “We Germans, in particular, bear a lasting responsibility never to forget what happened.”
Forty-six of 102 Jewish communities surveyed in Germany reported antisemitic incidents, highlighting the growing scale of the threat, a new nationwide report by the Central Council of Jews in Germany found.
Among the most common incidents identified in the Central Council survey were verbal abuse, threatening phone calls, vandalism and antisemitic graffiti. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they feel less safe living in Germany since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
“Following the explosive rise in antisemitism after Oct. 7, a ‘new normal’ has emerged,” Central Council President Josef Schuster said in the press statement. “A situation in which Jewish communities require constant protection and antisemitism has become normalized as part of the public sphere.”
The report also found that broader geopolitical developments continue to directly impact Jewish communities in Germany. Sixty-two percent of respondents said their sense of insecurity worsened following the recent war involving Iran, while two-thirds said a Gaza ceasefire did not improve their safety.
Protesters attend a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Leipzig, Germany Jan. 17, 2026. (Christian Mang/Reuters)
Jewish leaders say the consequences are being felt in daily life. Many Jews are increasingly avoiding visible signs of their identity, such as wearing a Star of David or a kippah, or Jewish skullcap, amid fears of harassment. In some cases, communities have canceled events due to security concerns.
At the same time, the report highlights a sharp decline in perceived societal support. Only 35% of communities said they feel solidarity from broader civil society, down from 62% in 2023.
Officials say the normalization of such rhetoric is shifting the boundaries of acceptable public discourse.
A person shows a hand stained with fake blood, during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza and to condemn the Israeli forces’ interception of some of the vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla aiming to reach Gaza and break Israel’s naval blockade, in Berlin, Germany, Oct. 2, 2025. (Axel Schmidt/Reuters)
The findings underscore growing concern that antisemitism, once seen as confined to the margins, is becoming more visible in public life, leaving Jewish communities feeling increasingly isolated and under threat.
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