Since the Hamas attack on Israel in October, the number of anti-Semitic punishments in Germany has skyrocketed. The BKA announced this. The potential for escalation is high, warned authority chief Münch.
The number of anti-Semitic crimes in Germany has increased significantly since the radical Islamic Hamas attack on Israel. Since October 7th, 680 anti-Semitic crimes have been reported to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), said BKA President Holger Münch at his agency’s autumn meeting.
Of these, more than 550 are related to the Middle East conflict. This number is significantly above the average value.
A total of 3,744 crimes in connection with the escalation were reported to the BKA. “More than 460 of these are violent crimes,” said Münch. The events in the Middle East would have a direct impact on radicalization in Germany. The potential for escalation is high, warned Münch.
Münch announces investigations against Hamas
More crimes have also been detected on the Internet. Since October, over 300 relevant reports of hate comments related to the conflict have been received. Half of the reports have an anti-Semitic background.
The number of cases in the area of foreign or religious ideology in October alone was more than three times as high as the total of all crimes recorded between January and September. The number of anti-Semitic crimes with a right-wing extremist background has also increased.
Münch further said that because German citizens were also affected by Hamas attacks, the BKA was investigating unknown Hamas members on behalf of the Federal Prosecutor General on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organization abroad, murder and hostage-taking.
Faeser: Protecting Jewish life is a matter of state
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser warned at the meeting that the Islamist scene in Germany was trying to use the escalation for its own purposes. Protecting Jewish life is part of the raison d’être, she affirmed.
In her speech, Faeser further focused on the increase in violent crime in society as a whole. “Unfortunately, society has become more violent,” she said. In the first half of 2023, the number of corresponding crimes increased by 16.8 percent compared to the same period last year. The number of crimes overall increased by eleven percent during the period.