France Continues to See Surge in Antisemitism, New Government Data Shows, Amid Rampant Hostility Toward Jews

Antisemitism in France remained at alarmingly high levels last year, with 1,320 incidents recorded nationwide, as Jews and Israelis faced several targeted attacks amid a relentlessly hostile climate despite heightened security measures, according to a newly published data.

On Thursday, the French Interior Ministry released its annual report on anti-religious acts, revealing a troubling rise in antisemitic incidents documented in a joint dataset compiled with the Jewish Community Protection Service.

Although the total number of antisemitic outrages in 2025 fell by 16 percent compared to 2024’s second highest ever total of 1,570 cases, the newly released report warns that antisemitism remains “historically high,” with more than 3.5 attacks occurring every day.

Over the past 25 years, antisemitic acts “have never been as numerous as in the past three years,” the report says, noting a dramatic spike following the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Les chiffres de l’antisémitisme en France en 2025 : un enracinement de la haine antijuive.

Le ministère de l’Intérieur a publié, ce jeudi 12 février 2026, les chiffres des actes antireligieux en France pour l’année 2025. Les données chiffrées concernant les actes antisémites… pic.twitter.com/PQXQfNwsqT

— CRIF (@Le_CRIF) February 12, 2026

Even though Jews make up less than 1 percent of France’s population, they accounted for 53 percent of all religiously motivated crimes last year.

Between 2022 and 2025, antisemitic attacks across France quadrupled, leaving the Jewish community more exposed than ever.

The most recent figure of total antisemitic incidents represents a 21 percent decline from 2023’s record high of 1,676 incidents, but a 203 percent increase from the 436 antisemitic acts recorded in 2022, before the Oct. 7 atrocities.

According to French officials, this latest report, which is based on documented cases and official complaints, still underestimates the true scope of the problem, largely due to widespread underreporting.

The first six months of 2025 alone saw more than 640 antisemitic incidents, a 27.5 percent decline from the same period in 2024, but a 112.5 percent increase compared to the first half of 2023, before the start of the war in Gaza.

The report also reveals a surge in physical attacks, totaling 126 incidents last year, with a striking 67.4 percent of all antisemitic acts aimed at people.

Of all recorded incidents, 30.5 percent of antisemitic outrages took place in private settings and 13.1 percent in educational institutions, but the true extent is likely higher, as these numbers do not account for school-related antisemitism reported by the French Ministry of National Education.

The latest data further indicates that anti-Israel rhetoric is fueling antisemitism, with one-third of incidents explicitly referencing Palestine or the war in Gaza.

The French government’s newly released figures come as the local Jewish community continues to face a growing climate of hostility, despite official efforts to increase security and curb the rise in anti-Jewish hatred.

In a shocking second antisemitic attack in less than a week, a 13-year-old boy in Paris was brutally beaten Monday by a knife-wielding assailant.

On his way to a synagogue in Paris’s 18th arrondissement, the schoolboy was physically attacked by a group of five individuals who beat him, pressed a knife to his throat, called him a “dirty Jew,” and stole his belongings, the French news outlet Le Parisien reported. 

According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the victim was walking to a synagogue, clutching his kippah in his hand rather than wearing it for fear of being recognized, when five attackers confronted him. The group then stole his AirPods, sneakers, and coat, and forced him to empty his pockets.

The boy also told authorities that he was shoved, punched in the face, and threatened with a knife to his throat before his attackers stole his belongings, shouting antisemitic remarks throughout the assault.

In a separate incident over the weekend, three Jewish men wearing kippahs were physically threatened with a knife and forced to flee after leaving their Shabbat services near the Trocadéro in southwest Paris’s 16th arrondissement, European Jewish Press reported.

As the victims were leaving a nearby synagogue and walking through the neighborhood, they noticed a man staring at them. The assailant then approached the group and repeatedly asked, “Are you Jews? Are you Israelis?”

When one of them replied “yes,” the man pulled a knife from his pocket and began threatening the group. The victims immediately ran and found police officers nearby. None of the victims were injured.

Last week, a Jewish primary school in eastern Paris was vandalized, with windows smashed and security equipment damaged, prompting a criminal investigation and renewed outrage among local Jewish leaders as targeted antisemitic attacks continued to escalate.