Germany antisemitism policy and AfD firewall

In late July 2026, Federal Antisemitism Commissioner Felix Klein reflected on the state of antisemitic hate in Germany, noting a surge of incidents after the October 2023 Hamas attack and highlighting structural gains such as nationwide antisemitism officers and the reclassification of attacks on Jewish sites as hate crimes. He warned that nearly half of offences still stemmed from right-wing actors and cautioned against weakening the political “firewall” that isolates the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). A few days later, Klein responded to the Islamist-motivated assault on Berlin’s Christopher Street Day parade, calling for amendments to the criminal code to criminalise public sympathy for terrorist organisations like IS and Hamas. He again stressed the necessity of maintaining the AfD firewall and announced his imminent departure from the commissioner role to serve as a diplomat at Germany’s OECD representation in Paris. In August 2026, as he prepared to transition to his diplomatic role, Klein expanded his calls for legal reform in an interview with the ‘Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger’. He proposed that individuals expressing sympathy for terrorist groups like Hamas should face prison sentences of at least six months and advocated for the deportation of foreign nationals without secure residency status following such convictions. Klein also suggested increasing the customs office's authority to prevent terrorist financing and requested that the commissioner have a role in decision-making regarding anti-antisemitism funding. Regarding education, he emphasized that combating antisemitism should be mandatory in teacher training and that Jewish life should be more positively integrated into school curricula. On August 21, 2026, Klein extended his commentary to Israeli policy, describing West Bank settlement activities as “völkerrechtswidrig” (contrary to international law). He argued these policies undermine a two-state solution and criticized the “often lax treatment of settler violence against Palestinian families.”