Key facts
- Merz said antisemitism had become omnipresent, citing streets, parliaments, clubs and schools.
- Merz said his government would do everything in its power to protect Jewish life in Germany and abroad.
- Merz restated Germany's support for Israel, which he said is part of Germany's historical responsibility.
- Monitoring group RIAS reported 8,725 antisemitic incidents last year, more than three times the 2022 number.
- Bavarian parliament speaker Ilse Aigner, Merz's nominee for head of state, called Jews' insecurity a disgrace for the country.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on November 9 that Germany faced a test of its commitment to protecting its Jewish community, speaking at a Munich synagogue on the anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938. He described the sight of kindergartens and synagogues protected by bulletproof glass and armed police as horrifying.
Merz said antisemitism had become omnipresent. "We see and hear it on our streets, in our towns and cities, in the towns and cities of our European neighbours and around the world, in parliaments, in clubs and in schools," he said. He added: "And that is why this is now the moment of truth for the 'Never again' that we utter so often."