Berlin records 2,197 antisemitic incidents in 2025 as prosecutor handles 12,500 cases

Escalation of reported antisemitic incidents

Three years after the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel and the start of the war in Gaza, the frequency of antisemitic incidents in Berlin remains persistently high. The Department for Research and Information on Antisemitism Berlin (RIAS) recorded 2,197 antisemitic incidents across the German capital in 2025, following a peak of 2,521 documented cases in 2024. In 2022, the final complete calendar year before the attack, RIAS logged 848 incidents. Monthly averages rose from 53 incidents before October 2023 to 263 in the fourth quarter of 2023, leaving annual numbers roughly 2.5 times above pre-conflict figures. Project leader Julia Kopp stated that reporting figures through 2026 continue at this elevated level.

Reporting volume remains unchanged at a high level in 2026.

Manifestations and impact on daily Jewish life

The recorded incidents range from physical attacks and verbal threats to discrimination, antisemitic stickers, and property damage. According to RIAS, the majority of targeted individuals were Jews, Israelis, or people perceived as such due to wearing a kippah, displaying Jewish symbols, or speaking Hebrew. Among those targeted were children and adolescents. In April 2026, authorities found graffiti reading "Kill all Jews" on a building wall in Berlin-Mitte. Later, in July 2026, a man confronted the chairperson of a Jewish community on the way to a religious service, issuing death threats while repeatedly performing the Hitler salute.

These hostilities have led many Jewish residents to limit their participation in public life and deliberately avoid specific areas or situations. Jana Berthold, the antisemitism commissioner at the Berlin General Public Prosecutor's Office, noted that many people now choose not to display their religious identity openly in public.

This is a state of affairs that is not normal and that we cannot accept in this way.

Thousands of criminal proceedings in Berlin courts

Berlin prosecutors received nearly 12,500 criminal proceedings related to the Middle East conflict between October 2023 and early October 2026. Judicial data indicates that approximately 7,000 of those files reached a conclusion by 1 October 2026. The public prosecutor's office classifies roughly 1,900 cases as antisemitic offenses and more than 1,300 as incidents carrying an antisemitic background. In addition, more than 9,200 cases relate to the general context of the Gaza conflict. Berthold stated that active caseloads at the Berlin police expanded rapidly after October 2023, leaving numerous files pending completion.

Protest activity and unresolved violent acts

More than 3,000 investigative proceedings focus on offenses committed during public rallies and assemblies, frequently involving the display of unconstitutional symbols and slogans. By the end of May 2025, Berlin police had counted 674 pro-Palestinian demonstrations and 714 connected violent offenses, including physical resistance during identity checks and arrests. Tensions also extended to academic institutions, where Hamas symbols appeared on walls and slogans such as "From the river to the sea" were chanted. Tensions began immediately after the 2023 attacks, when celebrations and sweet distributions occurred on Sonnenallee in Neukölln, followed eleven days later by an arson attack in which masked perpetrators threw incendiary bottles at a Brunnenstraße synagogue. Prosecutors closed the synagogue investigation in 2024 after failing to identify suspects.