The ‘collateral damage’ of the Israeli response to Oct. 7: Anti-Semitism is skyrocketing in Europe

Brussels – Tripled in France, quadrupled in Austria, and increased eightfold in the Netherlands: according to the European Commission, incidents of anti-Semitism in the EU have soared dramatically following Hamas’s attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s disproportionate military response. In Germany today, a third of the hate incidents recorded by the Federal Criminal Police Office are of an antisemitic nature.

It is the finding of the first progress report of the EU strategy 2021-2030 to combat anti-Semitism and fostering Jewish life, published today (Oct. 14) by the European Commission. The strategy is proceeding apace, and its implementation has stepped up since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. In three years, 23 member states have developed national strategies against anti-Semitism, and 20 EU governments have appointed a special envoy or national coordinator to combat anti-Semitism.
In line with the EU strategy, 25 countries – except Ireland and Malta – adopted the definition of anti-Semitism coined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which states that “criticism of Israel, like criticism of any other country, cannot be considered anti-Semitic” while “calls for the killing or wounding of Jews, stereotypical statements about Jewish power, and holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the State of Israel” are.

Thus, while European funding for anti-Semitism projects has risen from about 5.2 million euros in 2021 to 6 million euros in 2022 and 11 million euros in 2023, the other side of the coin of the EU report shows that Jewish communities in European countries are increasingly the scapegoat for the evils of Benjamin Netanyahu‘s government: “collateral damage,” using a formula sadly dear to the Israeli Defense Forces’ own military action. The European Commission report speaks of the “burning of Jewish premises such as synagogues, physical attacks on Jewish people, homes, restaurants, and stores,” Holocaust monuments “defaced with false comparisons between Jews and Nazis.”

According to Margaritis Schinas, vice president of the European Commission, “the situation of Jews in Europe has dramatically worsened.” France, home to Europe’s largest Jewish community, was the scene of a total of 1,676 incidents of anti-Semitism in 2023, more than four a day. However, hate toward Jews has also flared up online: research by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, published in February 2024, found a “sharp increase in anti-Semitic comments and messages and online threats against Jewish communities.” Ten percent more on X, 7 percent more on Reddit: in a random sample of hate speech content, it found that about 45 percent were anti-Semitic, while 15 percent involved hatred against the Muslim religion.