In 2026, Is Europe Still Unsafe for Jewish Life?
- Ofek Kehila
- Feb 16
- 4 min read
Has Europe become an unsafe place for Jewish life? Letters containing live ammunition, knife threats, and a general surge in antisemitism suggest that it has. Let’s dive into the facts and figures.
A letter containing a bullet in Munich
On February 5, 2026, the Jewish community of Munich, Germany, received a threatening letter containing a handgun cartridge in the post. The letter read: “Every Jew will die… I will cause all the deaths.” After many threats sent to Munich’s Jewish community in the past, this is the first letter containing live ammunition.
Yehoshua Chmiel, Vice President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, expressed his deep concern: “We feel let down. There are no acts against antisemitism. There are speeches, but they don’t help us.” No suspects were apprehended yet.
This incident is one of many. The German government registered 8,627 incidents of violence, vandalism, and threats against Jews in Germany last year, almost twice the 4,886 recorded in 2023.
Knife threats in Paris
On February 6, 2026, three Jewish men were threatened by a knife-wielding attacker on their way back from the synagogue in Paris, France. Once the attacker confirmed the Jewish identity of the kippah-clad men, he shouted “Israelites” and threatened them with a pocket knife. They fled from the place, seeking the help of nearby policemen.
In the aftermath of the incident, the mayor of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, Jérémy Redler, condemned the antisemitic attack, stressing he will continue to fight tirelessly against antisemitism. However, the attacker has not yet been found.
France, too, has seen a historic number of antisemitic incidents, recording 1,570 acts of antisemitism in 2024.
Threats in Norway and Belgium
Norway is witnessing a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents, a report of Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs confirms. According to a survey by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, no less than 69% of Jewish community members in Norway have experienced incidents related to their Jewish identity since October 7, 2023.
According to the Belgian Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis, Belgium’s Jewish community is the main target of potential attacks in the country.
Surge in antisemitism across Europe
Data collected by the Eurobarometer, a series of public opinion surveys conducted regularly on behalf of the European Commission and other EU institutions, points to a surge in antisemitism across Europe. The survey shows that a growing majority of Europeans (55% compared to 50% in 2018) consider antisemitism as a problem in their country.
In addition, 47% of Europeans believe that antisemitism has increased over the past five years, and a majority of Europeans think that hostility in public places (62%) and antisemitic vandalism or antisemitism online (61%) are a problem in their country.
Israeli Jews in Europe feel uneasy
Y, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Mideast Journal about his experiences and feelings as an Israeli Jew living in Switzerland:
“When I opened a bank account, the clerk saw my Israeli passport and said, ‘You people usually go with a kippah and Sidelocks,’ gesturing with his hand. It was an inappropriate comment, but I didn’t want to start a conflict about it. In another instance, a man living in my building started a discussion about the war in Gaza without being asked about it. I preferred to avoid confrontation and left.”
“I wasn’t scared or intimidated by these incidents, but I do feel that we as Israeli Jews must be cautious. I usually try not to present myself as an Israeli, speak Hebrew on the street, or write in Hebrew on my phone if I don’t have to.”
S, an Israeli Jew who lives with her husband and children in Frankfurt, Germany, expressed a general feeling of uneasiness:
“My experience in Frankfurt is generally positive. There are Jewish institutions, Jewish and Israeli communities. However, the heavy security in those places makes me feel like the armed police and security guards are there for a reason.”
“I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I feel safer with this heavy security, especially when I leave my children at the kindergarten. On the other hand, I would prefer it if there was no need for so much security. It makes me feel safer but quite uneasy.”
Wrap up
Threatening letters mailed to the Jewish community in Munich, knife threats at the sight of kippahs in the streets of Paris, Jewish communities at risk across Europe, and a general sense of unsafety and uneasiness—taken as a whole, the overwhelming number of antisemitic attacks and threats demonstrate that Europe is no longer a safe place for Jewish life. With a “growing pogrom-like atmosphere” threatening Jews in Germany and elsewhere, Europe is progressively becoming what it was nearly a century ago, in the rise of Nazism.
Ofek Kehila (Israel, 1987) is a scholar of Spanish Golden Age literature and Latin American literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. His research bridges the gap between those traditions, highlighting their aesthetic, cultural, and historical dialogue. He holds a PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2022) and was a postdoctoral fellow at Freie Universität Berlin (2023-2025).