The president of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, has not observed any emigration of Jews from Germany despite the rising number of anti-Semitic incidents.

When asked whether members of the Jewish community were turning their backs on Germany, Schuster told the Rheinische Post newspaper in an interview published on Saturday: “No, I definitely don’t see any emigration of Jewish people from Germany.”

There are always people who move to Israel for religious reasons, Schuster said, but he said he couldn’t see that for political reasons “in contrast to France, where there is a clear exodus of Jews.”

Since the terrorist attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas and others on October 7, a sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents has also been reported in Germany, including hostility, verbal abuse, the marking of residential buildings with Stars of David and an attempted arson attack on a Berlin synagogue.

Anti-Israeli slogans have been shouted and posters displayed at demonstrations.