BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz voiced outrage on Wednesday at an attack outside a synagogue in Berlin in which police say two Molotov cocktails were thrown at the building.
“I want to expressly say that I am outraged. It outrages me personally what some are shouting and doing,” Scholz said during a visit to Egypt.
In a social media post, he added: “Attacks on Jewish institutions and acts of violence on our streets are despicable and cannot be tolerated. Antisemitism has no place in Germany.”
Two hooded men threw the Molotov cocktails at a synagogue in central Berlin early on Wednesday morning, police said, adding that they had arrested a man who shouted antisemitic slogans while they were investigating.
Security has been stepped up around Jewish institutions in Germany since Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel and resulting Israeli reprisals inflamed opinion in the country’s Arab-speaking and Jewish communities.
The two bottles, filled with combustible fluid, burst on the pavement and burned themselves out, the police said, causing no damage. Security services are investigating the attack.
Since the latest escalation of tensions, Jewish groups have complained of a mounting sense of insecurity.
Police have declined most requests to hold pro-Palestinian demonstrations since Hamas’s attack and have dispersed a number of impromptu gatherings.
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt and Rachel More; Editing by Christina Fincher)
