In 2023, the Antisemitism Research and Information Center (RIAS) Bavaria documented 733 antisemitic incidents , marking a significant increase from the 424 incidents recorded in 2022, representing a 73 percent rise.
Notably, there was a surge in incidents linked to events in Israel since October 7th.
Nearly half of all incidents occurred after the antisemitic attack by Hamas in southern Israel, with 70 percent of them associated with Israel-related antisemitism. This form of antisemitism played a role in 46 percent of all cases in 2023, compared to 26 percent in the previous year.
The documented incidents in 2023 included seven attacks, 31 cases of property damage, and 31 threats, all of which can have severe repercussions for the victims. One hundred and three cases affected Jewish and Israeli individuals, while 42 cases targeted Jewish and Israeli institutions.
Additionally, 23 instances of mass messages and 641 cases of hurtful behavior, including 260 meetings, were recorded. The majority (81 percent) of these incidents occurred offline, with 20 percent happening in face-to-face situations. The metropolitan regions of Munich and Nuremberg were focal points for these occurrences.
RIAS Bavaria director Annette Seidel-Arpacı remarked, “2023 was a pivotal year. We witnessed a record number of antisemitic incidents, which, coupled with the shock of the Hamas attacks, deeply unsettled many Jews in Bavaria.”
Among incidents with identifiable political motivations, the conspiracy ideology milieu accounted for 137 cases (19 percent of all incidents), followed by anti-Israel activism in 74 incidents, representing an increase from six to ten percent.
