German Chancellor Olaf Scholz strongly condemned a firebomb assault on a synagogue in Berlin on Wednesday, saying “we will never accept when attacks are carried out against Jewish institutions.”
Assailants threw two Molotov cocktails early Wednesday at the synagogue in the center of the German capital, police said, as antisemitic incidents in the country have been rising following the violent escalation in the Middle East.
“Unknown persons threw two Molotov cocktails from the street,” the Kahal Adass Jisroel community wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Dozens of police officers were investigating in front of the synagogue in the city's Mitte neighbourhood, and the entire street next to the building was cordoned off and blocked for traffic.
Advertisement
Germany's leading Jewish group said two people were involved in the attack, but didn't give any further details.
“We are all shocked by this terrorist attack,” the Central Council of Jews said in a statement.
“Above all, the families from the neighbourhood around the synagogue are shocked and unsettled. Words become deeds. Hamas' ideology of extermination against everything Jewish is also having an effect in Germany.”
The building complex of the Kahal Adass Jisroel community in the centre of Berlin houses a synagogue, a kindergarten, a yeshiva school and a community centre.
Police also said there were riots overnight between Muslim immigrants and police in the city's Neukoelln and Kreuzberg neighbourhoods and at Berlin's landmark Brandenburg Gate in which several officers were injured.
Advertisement
Scholz, who was speaking to reporters during a trip to Egypt on Wednesday, said that Germany would not accept violent and antisemitic protests and that the protection of Jewish institutions would be further increased.
“It outrages me personally what some of them are shouting and doing, and I am convinced that Germany's citizen are of the same opinion as me," Scholz said.
“We stand united for the protection also of Jews" in Germany, the chancellor added.
Following Hamas' brutal attack on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent war in Gaza, police have increased security for Jewish institutions in Berlin and all over Germany.
Still, Israeli flags that were flown as a sign of solidarity in front of city halls all over the country have been torn down and burnt.
Several building in Berlin where Jews live had the star of David painted on doors and walls.
