How Strong Is Antisemitism in Europe?

More than 45 years ago, I left the Soviet Union for Israel. Back in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), I once witnessed a brutal attack on a Jewish man. When I stepped in to help, the police explained that they punished antisemitism not because they loved Jews, but because Jews were viewed as useful to national progress. Jews, the officer told me, were valuable scientists, engineers, and teachers. Their utility protected them, and not compassion or justice.

This pragmatic tolerance has since disappeared. In today’s Europe, Jews are no longer perceived as essential contributors, and antisemitism is returning louder, broader, and more aggressively.

According to a European Union survey, 41% of young European Jews have considered emigration due to safety concerns. While they are not being officially expelled, the climate of rising hostility might force them to leave. Jewish presence is shrinking across Europe, from 3.2 million in 1970 to just 1.3 million in 2020, a drop of nearly 60%. Once home to 90% of world Jewry, Europe now holds less than 10%. A 2025 EJA (European Jewish Association) report explicitly links rising antisemitism to increased Jewish emigration, warning that inaction by governments could signal “the beginning of the end of Jewish presence in Europe.”

Following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, antisemitic crimes and threats in Europe have surged to unprecedented levels, with both online and offline hate reaching new heights. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) reported a 400% rise in antisemitic activities since the war began, and the European Commission noted that incidents have tripled in France, quadrupled in Austria, and increased eightfold in the Netherlands. France alone recorded 1,676 antisemitic acts in 2023, a fourfold increase over the previous year, with nearly 60% involving physical violence, threats, or menacing gestures. Meanwhile, there has been an explosion of antisemitic content on social media platforms such as X and Telegram, with some metrics indicating a 115-fold spike in antisemitic posts on X since October 2023, and a significant increase in engagement with antisemitic posts on Telegram. This wave of hostility is not confined to fringe groups as antisemitic rhetoric has permeated mainstream discourse and public spaces, making Jewish communities across Europe feel increasingly unsafe and exposed.

The majority of European Jews now feel compelled to hide their identity. Around 76% have reported concealing their Jewishness at least occasionally, and 34% have stated that they avoid Jewish events or sites because they do not feel safe. This trend is particularly pronounced among young Jews, with nearly two-thirds expressing discomfort in publicly expressing their Jewish identity.

Yet, a large portion of the general European public remains unaware or dismissive. Around 50% of Europeans do not see antisemitism as a problem, unless they live in countries with significant Jewish populations or recent attacks, such as France, Germany, or Belgium.

There have also been notable horrific incidents. In France, Sarah Halimi was thrown from her apartment window to cries of “Allahu Akbar.” In another case, an elderly Holocaust survivor, Mireille Knoll, was stabbed and set on fire by an assailant who believed Jews “hide treasures.” In Germany, a far-right extremist attempted to massacre Jews at a synagogue in Halle, and later, Islamic suspects were arrested plotting similar attacks. Also in Germany, there were seven cases in 2023 classified as life-threatening antisemitic attacks. Notably, there was an attack on a Berlin synagogue involving Molotov cocktails and a shooting outside the Israeli consulate in Munich. Additionally, a 15-year-old in Düsseldorf was arrested for planning attacks on Jewish community centers in Europe, after being groomed online by Islamist terrorists. Physical assaults, property damage, and threats against Jewish individuals and institutions have also surged, with more than 4,700 antisemitic incidents recorded in Germany in 2023, a record high since monitoring began. The UK, Belgium, Spain, and Poland have also witnessed rising antisemitic violence and rhetoric.

Beyond violence, legislation also threatens Jewish life. In 2020, the European Court of Justice upheld Belgium’s ban on kosher slaughter, citing animal welfare. Other countries quickly followed suit. While framed as secular policies, such bans historically aimed to dissuade Jews from settling or to pressure them to leave, just as the Nazis once did. Now, circumcision is also under scrutiny in parts of Europe.

This growing intolerance signals a deeper crisis. It is not just about safety, laws, or hate speech. It reflects a fundamental rejection of Jews as a people with a legitimate, respected place in Europe.

But why does such hatred persist? Why do societies repeatedly turn on Jews, even after centuries of suffering and contribution?

The root is spiritual. There is an instinctive expectation on Jews to model unity above division. When we fail to fulfill this role, by letting our self-serving and divisive drives dictate our attitudes, an unconscious demand for a more unified, harmonious, and peaceful world emerges from the nations. When this demand is unmet, it manifests as blame and hatred.

Our sages have long taught that the strength of the Jewish people is in their unity. As the Shem Mishmuel writes, “When Israel are ‘as one man with one heart,’ they are a fortified wall against the forces of evil.” Also, “if Israel were one bundle, no nation or tongue would be able to govern them” (Tanhuma, Nitzavim, 1), and “since we were ruined by unfounded hatred, and the world was ruined with us, we will be rebuilt by unfounded love, and the world will be rebuilt with us” (Rav Kook, Orot Kodesh [Sacred Lights]).

Jewish unity is the antidote to antisemitism. It is not political or national unity, but a spiritual connection above all differences. When we act as one, we become a light to the nations, a living example of how people who are naturally divided and different, can rise in unity and live harmoniously and peacefully.

If we ignore this calling, the consequences will only grow worse. Laws will tighten. Violence will escalate. And the illusion of acceptance will shatter.

Europe is no safe haven. Nor will America be, if current trends continue. Times of comfort have come to an end. But with every crisis comes an opportunity, which is to awaken, connect, and fulfill our unifying role in humanity.

Antisemitism, for all its horror, is a wake-up call. It reminds us of our unique responsibility: to unite above our divisive drives, and by doing so, to offer the world the healing it desperately needs.

When that happens, then we will see how hatred subsides and we will discover a new, safe world together with a heightened harmonious state that will illuminate humanity via a growing unifying tendency. As Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) wrote…

“When all human beings agree to abolish and eradicate their will to receive for themselves, and have no other desire but to bestow upon their friends, all worries and jeopardy in the world would cease to exist. And we would all be assured of a whole and wholesome life.”