Anti-Semitism in Germany reaches ‘all-time high’: Klein warns of ‘tsunami’

The Anti-Semitism Commissioner The German government’s Foreign Minister, Felix Klein, has expressed his alarm at the “open and aggressive” anti-Semitism in Germany. “We have experienced a tsunami of anti-Semitism since October 7,” Klein said in an interview with the news agency AFP. The Hamas attack on Israel in October almost a year ago “further broke the existing barriers regarding anti-Semitism in our society,” he added.

This is reflected in the police Crime statistics by 2023 with around 5,000 anti-Semitic crimes of which “half were committed after October 7”. The “open and aggressive anti-Semitism in all its forms” in Germany and worldwide is “stronger than ever since 1945”.

According to Klein, this “all-time high” is evidence of a “worrying absurdity”: On October 7, “more Jews were murdered than at any time since the Shoah.” Nevertheless, the German public is not showing solidarity with Jews “to the extent that I would have liked.”

Anti-Semitism “skyrocketed” before the Israeli government and army even reacted to the Hamas attack, Klein continued. This shows “that ultimately anti-Semitism has nothing to do with the behavior of Jews and ultimately with the behavior of Israel.”

Jewish life currently “under great pressure”

There has been no significant emigration of Jews from Germany since October. According to recent surveys, trust in the German security authorities is also high. Nevertheless, Jewish life is currently “under more pressure than it has been since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany.” The security of Jewish life is “the basic prerequisite for its visibility,” emphasized Klein.

Discrimination “poison for social cohesion”

The anti-Semitism commissioner appealed to German civil society “under no circumstances to allow Jews to be held responsible for what is happening in the Middle East.” Because, like any form of discrimination, anti-Semitism is “poison for our social cohesion.”

According to the anti-Semitism commissioner, the “absolute breach of taboos” that followed October 7 affects “all areas”. Anti-Semitism is now “fully accepted in parts of society”. But the “dimension, the nature and the persistence of the anti-Semitic narrative” are “really dramatic”. People who already have anti-Semitic attitudes are now expressing their views more openly “due to political developments” because “this is on better ground”.

Spread of anti-Israel attitudes

In addition to the “classic German anti-Semitism of the right-wing variety,” Klein also increasingly locates anti-Semitism in left-wing and Islamist circles. But anti-Israeli attitudes are also spreading in the middle of society. In doing so, it is increasingly lost sight of “the fact that this is a conflict between a terrorist organization that does not care about international law and a democratic state that does want to be judged by international law.”

Klein considers “alliances between different currents” to be particularly worrying. There are movements that otherwise do not have much in common, but are united “in their hatred of Jews and Israel”. This “unfortunately also affects the reflex to hold Jews responsible for what is happening in the Gaza Strip and in Israel”.

Increased demand in the education sector

However, the prosecution of anti-Semitic crimes must become “even more transparent”. The Federal-State Commission will therefore call on the Justice Ministers’ Conference in October to work for the disclosure of figures on actual investigations, charges and convictions.

Increased demand for Kampf against Anti-Semitism Klein sees this particularly in Education and at the PreventionThere are “many deficits” to be lamented here. But it is precisely here that “savings must not be made,” he warned, with a view to possible cuts in the federal budget in 2025.

In view of the “massive deterioration of the discourse”, there must also be a “smart combination” of educational offerings at German universities. “Especially where speech and counter-speech should actually be wrestling with each other and where the culture of debate should be exemplary, we are increasingly hearing about aggression, about events where professors and students are shouted down,” said Klein. This “brutalization” is “completely unacceptable”. Ultimately, the fight against anti-Semitism can only be won “if civil society joins in”.