Germany sees surge in Islamist-linked antisemitic crimes, government data reveals

According to Germany’s Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS), 8,725 antisemitic incidents were recorded nationwide in 2025.

By Ailin Vilches Arguello, The Algemeiner

Islamist extremism is fueling a growing wave of antisemitism in Germany, with newly released government data revealing a sharp rise in Islamist-motivated crimes in 2025, raising fresh concerns about the safety of Jewish communities and Israelis living in the country.

According to newly released German government data, authorities recorded 670 antisemitic offenses linked to Islamist extremism in 2025, a 6 percent increase from the previous year, with crimes ranging from hate speech and threats to serious acts of violence.

Officials point to an alarming surge in antisemitic offenses following the Hamas-led invasion and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, with 331 cases recorded across the country in just the following three months—ten times the number reported in the preceding nine-month period.

For comparison, authorities recorded just 16 such offenses in 2022, illustrating the dramatic escalation in Islamist-linked antisemitic activity following the Oct. 7 atrocities.

Among the recorded cases were expressions of support for designated terrorist organizations such as Hamas, the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, and the Islamic State, alongside threats, physical assaults, widespread harassment, antisemitic abuse, and intimidation, as well as vandalism targeting Jewish-owned businesses, institutions, memorials, and residential areas.

Even though nearly half of all antisemitic offenses recorded in 2025 were linked to the war in Gaza and wider regional tensions, authorities warned that right-wing extremism remained the leading source of antisemitic crime in Germany.

For many Jews and Israelis in Germany, rising hostility has turned everyday expressions of identity into a source of concern, prompting some to hide Jewish symbols, avoid speaking Hebrew in public, or think twice before openly identifying themselves as Jewish.

Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, warned that the security situation for Jews remains deeply concerning, with persistent threats and rising antisemitism taking an increasingly heavy toll on Jewish life across the country.

“Islamist-influenced Jew-hatred is now being openly unleashed on the streets, at universities, and online,” Schuster said in a statement.

Just last week, Germany’s newly appointed federal antisemitism commissioner, Katharina von Schnurbein, warned that the country is facing an alarming resurgence of open, brazen anti-Jewish hatred, vowing to confront the crisis as she begins her new mandate.

“We have reached a point that has probably never existed since the Holocaust,” Schnurbein told the Düsseldorf-based newspaper Rheinische Post in an exclusive interview.

“Antisemitism has never gone away,” the new German official continued. “But those who make antisemitic statements today no longer fear any consequences.”

The 53-year-old political scientist officially took office as Germany’s Commissioner for Jewish Life and the Fight against Antisemitism last week, succeeding Felix Klein, who stepped down to become the country’s ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

Schnurbein warned that antisemitism threatens not only Jewish life but also the very foundations of Germany’s democracy and core values, urging society to send a clear message that anti-Jewish hatred has no place in the country.

“The political extremes—from Islamists to left-wing and right-wing radicals—may have little in common, but they share a common ground in anti-Zionism and antisemitism,” the German official said.

“If the center fails to draw a firm line and say, ‘This far and no further,’ then ‘Never again’ will have failed.”

The alarming trend extends far beyond crimes attributed specifically to Islamist extremism.

Across Germany, antisemitic incidents reached another record high in 2025, according to separate nationwide monitoring data that captures a much broader range of anti-Jewish incidents, regardless of their ideological background.

According to Germany’s Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS), 8,725 antisemitic incidents were recorded nationwide in 2025.

While last year’s total reflects only a modest rise of 98 incidents compared with 2024, this latest figure represents a roughly 248 percent surge from 2022, before the Oct. 7 atrocities, when 2,480 incidents were documented.

With an average of roughly 24 incidents per day, the report documented 178 physical assaults and 257 threats, as well as widespread harassment, property damage, and intimidation targeting Jewish individuals and institutions.

Officials have even warned that the real number of antisemitic crimes is likely much higher, as many incidents go unreported or are never formally classified.

AntisemitismGermanyRadical Islam