Germany’s chancellor has vowed to step up the fight against antisemitism after assailants hurled two molotov cocktails at a Jewish synagogue in central Berlin.
Speaking in Egypt on Wednesday, Olaf Scholz said he was “outraged” by what police called a suspected “serious attempted arson” that took place in the early hours of Wednesday in the Mitte district of the city.
“Two unidentified people came on foot and threw two burning bottles filled with liquid in the direction of the synagogue on Brunnenstrasse,” police said in a statement. “The bottles landed on the pavement and broke, extinguishing the fire.”
There were no reported injuries and the building, which belongs to the Kahal Adass Jisroel community, was not harmed. As the masked assailants fled the scene, security forces outside the building – which also serves as a daycare and a school – noticed “a small fire” on the sidewalk and were able to put it out, police added.
Scholz described the tensions that have gripped his country in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war as “inhumane, abhorrent and intolerable”.
Forcefully condemning the attack on the synagogue, he said further protection would be provided for Jewish institutions. “I want to expressly say that I am outraged,” Scholz told reporters during a trip to Egypt. “It outrages me personally what some are shouting and doing.”
He later took to social media to stress that “antisemitism has no place in Germany” as well as thank security forces for their work. “Attacks against Jewish institutions, violent riots on our streets – this is inhumane, abhorrent and intolerable,” he added.
Last week Scholz pledged to take a “zero tolerance” approach to antisemitism, describing it as Germany’s responsibility given its history in the Holocaust, during which 6 million Jews were murdered.
The country has increased protection at synagogues and Jewish schools across the country and largely banned pro-Palestinian rallies. Even so, reports emerged of demonstrators and police clashing during demonstrations in Berlin late Tuesday. Across the country, officials told local media that Israeli flags that had been raised in solidarity had been torn down and burnt.
On Wednesday Germany’s leading Jewish group, the Central Council of Jews, said the attack on the synagogue had rattled many. “We are all shocked by this terrorist attack,” it said in a statement. “Above all, the families from the neighbourhood around the synagogue are shocked and unsettled.”
The fresh turmoil in the Middle East came as Germany was already grappling with a rise in politically motivated crimes, including a nearly 29% jump in antisemitic crimes in 2021. The vast majority of these 3,027 offences – 2,552 – were attributed to far-right extremists.
Agence-France Presse and Associated Press contributed to this report
