French President Emmanuel Macron has called for stronger, coordinated action to confront antisemitism, warning that hatred toward Jews remains deeply
entrenched in France despite a modest drop in recorded incidents last year.
New figures released by the Interior Ministry show that authorities documented 1,320 antisemitic acts in 2025—more than half of all anti-religious offenses nationwide. While the total marked a 16% decline from the previous year, officials stressed that antisemitism has stayed at “historically high” levels for the third consecutive year.
The surge, the ministry said, followed the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, events that reverberated across Europe and fueled tensions far beyond the Middle East.
Speaking at a memorial ceremony marking 20 years since the death of Ilan Halimi, Macron said the fight against antisemitism must involve every level of society. “Schools, the justice system, elected officials—everyone must be mobilised,” he told attendees. Halimi, a 23-year-old Jewish man, was kidnapped, tortured and murdered in 2006; the gang leader behind the crime was later sentenced to life in prison.
Macron also took aim at what he described as the “poison of online hatred,” calling on the European Commission to more forcefully hold major digital platforms to account. “In the France of the Enlightenment,” he said, “free speech stops at antisemitism and racism.”
France’s experience mirrors a broader European trend. In Britain, antisemitic incidents rose 4% in 2025 to 3,700 cases—the second-highest figure ever recorded—according to the Community Security Trust.
Meanwhile, Germany reported a sharp escalation, with antisemitic cases nearly doubling to 8,627 last year, based on data from the Federal Research and Information Point for Antisemitism. The incidents included assaults, vandalism and threats, many linked to fallout from the Gaza conflict.
As European leaders grapple with the rise in hate crimes, Macron’s message was clear: declining numbers alone are not enough. Without sustained pressure—online, in schools, and in public life—antisemitism, he warned, risks becoming a permanent stain on the continent’s democratic values. Photo by Jacques Paquier, Wikimedia commons.