Suche
Man with Israel flag in front of synagogue: Police intervene!
In August 2025, there was a police operation at a synagogue in Berlin after a man violated a ban on entering the building. Anti-Semitism remains a central issue.
Man with Israel flag in front of synagogue: Police intervene!
On August 12, 2025, an incident occurred in front of the synagogue on Oranienburger Strasse in Berlin-Mitte, which once again brought the issue of anti-Semitism in Germany into focus. A 51-year-old man tried to enter the synagogue around 4 p.m. despite an existing ban on entering the building. When he was refused entry, he tore off a State of Israel flag and threw it on the ground. The police were immediately alerted and the man was taken to a police station to verify his identity. After his identification, he was able to continue on his way. In this context, the State Police of the Berlin State Criminal Police Office has taken over the investigation into trespassing and violations of flags and national emblems of foreign states, as berlin.de reports.
This incident is closely linked to an alarming increase in anti-Semitic attacks in Germany. A previous attack caused great concern in October 2023: unknown persons threw Molotov cocktails towards a synagogue, which the Central Council of Jews qualified as a “terrorist attack”. Chancellor Olaf Scholz then announced increased security precautions and made it clear that attacks on Jewish institutions in Germany would not be tolerated. The Central Council of Jews stated that Hamas's “destruction ideology” also works in Germany, which significantly increases the threat to Jewish life, according to information from tagesschau.de.
Increased security measures
In response to the increasing threat situation, Berlin Senator for the Interior Iris Spranger emphasized that measures to protect Jewish life will be strengthened. In October 2023, police canceled a planned “Youth Against Racism” rally to prevent potential violence and anti-Semitic statements. In addition, various emergency services have already been mobilized in order to be able to intervene quickly in the event of possible riots, such as those previously observed in Neukölln.
The discussion about anti-Semitism and the fight against it has also become more important in the German Bundestag. A current report from the federal government on combating anti-Semitism shows that the threat level for Jews in Germany has explicitly increased following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. There was an increase in anti-Semitic crimes in 2023, which will remain at a high level in the following years. The report is a comprehensive analysis of the federal government's preventive and repressive measures over the last four years and, for the first time, also includes the perspective of those affected, as highlighted on bundestag.de.
Political reactions and social responsibility
Politicians from different parties are calling for a common response to the challenges of anti-Semitism. Irene Mihalic from the Greens speaks of a serious problem, while Franziska Giffey from the SPD calls for vigilance and emphasizes the protection of Jewish life. The FDP parliamentary group described the incident as unbearable. The ongoing discussion on the topic makes it clear that society and political institutions are called upon to decisively counter anti-Semitism and to intensify cultural and historical education.