The security of Jewish communities is dire in two major Western European powers.

Anti-Semitism has become extremely widespread in Germany

An average of five anti-Jewish crimes are committed in Germany every day, according to the government response to a question put to the cabinet by a leftist party in the German parliament. So far this year, 1,555 anti-Semitic crimes have been recorded across the country, 55 of which have been classified as violent crimes, the government said, also listing a number of other crimes,

such as incitement to hatred, defamation, damage to property and the use of the symbols of unconstitutional organisations, which in Germany usually means wearing the swastika.

Life for Jews in Germany has changed significantly since 2015, when hundreds of thousands of migrants from areas of Islamic cultural arrived in Germany. As Jewish activist Malca Goldstein-Wolf put it,

“The Muslims’ hatred of Jews is the greatest threat to Jewish life in Germany. There are comparatively far fewer violent right-wing extremists, but there are masses of Muslims who are not afraid to physically attack Jews wearing kippahs and are totally uninhibited in their hatred of Jews,”

The situation was no better in 2021 either, especially in Berlin where 661 prosecutions for anti-Semitic crimes were initiated, a huge increase from 417 cases in 2020.

Commenting on the report, the right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) has harshly criticised the federal government.

„People like to ignore the imported anti-Semitism that erupted again in 2021, when thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters called Israel a ‘child killer’. Not only the AfD has long warned of this danger, the Berliner Zeitung called on people of Jewish faith to avoid walking through Neukolln and certain other districts wearing a kippah, as they are risking their safety.”

the party’s statement reads. The government’s „failure of migration policy is clearly demonstrated by the imported Islamic anti-Semitism. This is so obvious that even the leftist mainstream media can no longer silence the imported Islamic threat to Jews in Germany,” the politician added. The AfD also pointed out that „as long as the federal government turns a blind eye to such reports, no change can be expected.”

Last year’s attacks (3,028 crimes) also had fatalities. The chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, said

„last year’s sharp rise in anti-Semitic crime is deeply shocking, but unfortunately not really surprising.”

The fight against anti-Semitism „must be continued and intensified at all levels – in politics, in science and culture, in the media, and in schools and universities,” Mr Schuster opined.

The situation in France is worse

France boasts the largest Jewish community, numbering 500,000 people, of all European countries, yet Jews feel the least secure there, as found in a survey conducted by the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research on commission of the European Jewish Association (EJA). The study examined the following four main aspects: the Jewish community’s sense of security, public attitudes to Jews and Israel, levels of anti-Semitism and the performance of governments in terms of measures regarding statistics on anti-Semitic incidents, on Holocaust memorials, budgetary funds dedicated to the security of Jews, and ensuring the freedom of worship and the practice of Jewish customs. Looking at the results, the lower a country’s score, the worse the situation is in the context of anti-Semitism.

With all the aspects of the survey combined, France ranked tenth out of the twelve countries, falling far behind the best scoring Italy in first place. The article also revealed that Hungary ranked second on the list, while Belgium was in the last or worst spot.

As to the Jewish community’s sense of security, France scored last, meaning that Jews are the most worried about their security in this country, while Denmark took the top place in this respect.

The most recent anti-Semitic murder occurred in 2018. The victim was an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, Mireille Knoll, who was killed with 11 knife stabs and whose body was set on fire by her assailant, Yacine Mihoub, a Muslim man of African descent. The trial of the case took place in November 2021, and the perpetrator was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The case of Sarah Halimi, a 65-year-old Orthodox Jewish woman who was cruelly murdered with an anti-Semitic motive, also sparked public outcry. In 2017, the woman’s neighbour, 27-year-old Kobili Traore of migrant background, broke into the her home and after brutally beating her, threw her out the window while yelling „Allahu Akbar”.

The court eventually acquitted the perpetrator, saying that the man had committed the crime under the influence of drugs and was not in full control of himself and was therefore not punishable.

In 2015, France saw the most shocking crime with an anti-Semitic motive. On 9 January, a fully armed terrorist, Amedy Coulibaly, killed four people and took seventeen people hostage in the Hyper Cacher grocery store in Paris.

In 2006, the murder of 23-year-old Ilan Halimi made front-page headlines abroad. The young man was kidnapped and held captive for three weeks by a group of mainly Muslims, who called themselves the Gang of Barbarians.

He was tied to a radiator, repeatedly beaten and tortured, because of his Jewish descent. The gang demanded a ransom of 450,000 euros, believing that the Jewish man’s family was wealthy.

The ransom was never handed over. Ilan Halimi was found half-dead on the street in the suburbs of Paris, with most of his body covered with burns. He died while being rushed to hospital.