The number of politically motivated crimes in Germany has risen rapidly against a backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the country's general elections in February, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Tuesday.
In 2024, German authorities registered over 84,000 crimes — a 40% increase from the year prior and the highest number recorded since the western European nation started tracking such incidents in 2001.
Dobrindt said that cases had increased in almost all areas, but highlighted antisemitism and right-wing extremism as the main threats to Germany's democracy.
According to the numbers he presented, just over half of all politically motivated offences were associated with right-wing extremism, including neo-Nazism.
“Last year, we had to deal with a very massive increase in right-wing, politically motivated crimes. That is why we will continue our fight against right-wing extremism and right-wing motivated crimes,” he said.
Increase in anti-Semitic crimes
A suspected antisemitic motive was recorded in 6,236 cases registered. The 21% increase includes 2,832 cases motivated by antisemitism, registered under the topics of "Israel" and "Palestine".
Dobrindt outlined that a large portion of the 793 politically motivated violent crimes reported to the police in the context of the war in the Middle East were related to protests and demonstrations.
The increase in numbers was attributed to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza fuelling antisemitism as well as the German federal election in February.
According to the ministry, the number of incidents increased sharply during the election, with the Green party and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) the primary targets of politically motivated attacks.
Politicians decried the rise in attacks, with Dobrindt calling for giving more powers to law enforcement in response to the "extreme increase" in cases.
Among other measures, he proposed increasing the minimum prison sentence for assaults on police officers from three to six months.
He also advocated for further criminalising knife attacks — making them punishable with a minimum of one year in prison instead of six months.
Natalie Pawlik, the government commissioner for anti-racism, criticised the "dramatic" increase in racist, antisemitic and Islamophobic crimes in the country.
Politically motivated crimes were spreading "fear and terror," Dobrindt said, and preventing volunteers and politicians from effectively carrying out their work.
