German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the country’s security authorities are on high alert due to the tense situation in the Middle East.
“We are monitoring very closely how possible further escalations will affect the security situation in Germany,” Faeser told regional newspaper Rheinische Post on Thursday.
Faeser said the risk of further escalation in the Middle East was high, describing the situation as “extremely dangerous”.
The German government, together with its international partners, is working hard to calm the situation, Faeser said.
“Since the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza, there has been a drastic increase in anti-Semitic crimes,” Faeser said.
“Our security authorities are doing everything they can to break the spiral that leads from violence in the Middle East to even more abhorrent anti-Semitism here,” he added.
Faeser also noted that authorities are taking decisive action against the Islamic scene, citing the banning of the Islamic Center Hamburg and its nationwide branches at the end of July.
Additionally, she mentioned previous bans on the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the pro-Palestinian Samidoun network in Germany.
Faeser expressed his “sincere gratitude” to the federal states for their continued efforts to protect Jewish and Israeli institutions in Germany by deploying strong police forces.
