Germany recorded the highest number of antisemitic incidents in a single year since monitoring began, according to the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS), the country's independent tracking network. The group's annual report, published Wednesday, documented 8,725 incidents in 2025, an average of roughly 24 per day.
A year of escalating incidents
According to RIAS, the 2025 total includes 178 physical attacks and 257 threats. Among the reported cases, four were classified as extreme violence, including a terrorist attack at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin.
The report details specific incidents that illustrate the range of antisemitic acts. In the western state of Hesse, for example, a rabbi was shoved in a supermarket in front of his children and had his phone snatched. In the city of Kehl, four members of a Jewish community were insulted and spat on outside a Jewish prayer room.
Nearly 43% of all documented threats occurred online, RIAS said. In one case, a Jewish woman repeatedly received threats on Facebook, including an image of a canister of Zyklon B—the gas used by Nazis during the Holocaust—accompanied by the comment: "Still in stock."
The rise in incidents follows the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, after which RIAS observed a sharp increase in antisemitic activity. The report notes that far-right antisemitic incidents reached their highest level ever recorded, and that Israel-related antisemitism accounted for 68% of all documented cases.
Monitoring and context
RIAS, funded by the German government and operating in 11 of Germany's 16 states, tracks both criminal and non-criminal incidents, defining antisemitism as beginning before it becomes a criminal offense. The group collects reports from regional offices and an online portal, then categorizes them by type and motivation.
The data, while comprehensive, is not representative of all antisemitic incidents in Germany, RIAS acknowledges, as it depends on voluntary reporting.
Official response
Felix Klein, the German government's Commissioner for Jewish Life and the Fight Against Antisemitism, responded to the report, saying that antisemitism threatens democracy, freedom, and the moral core of Germany. His remarks were widely reported by both German and international media.
The figures have drawn attention from multiple outlets, including Deutsche Welle, which reported on the range of incidents and the broader societal concerns, and The Jerusalem Post, which emphasized the record-high number and the surge in Israel-related incidents. Both sources cited RIAS as the primary source of the data.
Looking ahead
The release of the report has renewed debate in Germany about how to address rising antisemitism, particularly in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and its reverberations in Europe. Civil society groups and politicians have called for stronger legal measures, better education, and greater support for Jewish communities.
As the year ahead unfolds, RIAS and other monitoring organizations are expected to continue documenting incidents, providing crucial data for policymakers and the public. The 2025 figures, while alarming, represent a baseline for understanding the scale of the problem and the urgency of the response.