Antisemitism Reporting Centre of the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG) recorded 671 antisemitic incidents in the first half of 2026

The Antisemitism Reporting Centre of the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG) recorded 671 antisemitic incidents in the first half of 2026, including 12 physical assaults, 18 threats, 68 cases of property damage, 226 mass mailings and 347 incidents of abusive behaviour.

Although the total represents a decrease from the 726 incidents recorded during the same period in 2025, it remains more than double the 311 incidents reported in the first half of 2023, before 7 October.

“Since 7 October 2023, not only the boundaries of what can be said, but also of what can be done, have shifted. Antisemitic words are followed by threats and attacks against Jews. The state of emergency has become everyday life,” said Oskar Deutsch, President of the IKG.

The report highlights how international events and the propaganda surrounding them directly affect Jewish people in Austria.

Following the outbreak of war between the United States and Israel on one side and the Iranian regime on the other on 28 February, the reporting centre registered almost twice as many incidents in the subsequent two weeks as in the preceding fortnight. March was the busiest month of the first half of the year, with 152 reported incidents.

Numbers remained high in May, which saw the Eurovision Song Contest held in Vienna alongside the campaign surrounding the Gaza flotilla.

Compared with the first half of 2025, incidents involving abusive behaviour fell from 432 to 347, while cases of property damage declined from 78 to 68. However, physical assaults more than doubled, rising from five to 12, while threats increased from eight to 18. The number of physical assaults is approaching the 16 recorded in the first half of 2024.

Antisemitism related to Israel remained the most prevalent form, featuring in 75.4% of all recorded incidents. It frequently appeared alongside other antisemitic motifs, including othering, which was present in 55.7% of cases, and the relativisation of the Holocaust, recorded in 43.2%.

“What we record is only the tip of the iceberg,” said Johannan Edelman, Head of the Antisemitism Reporting Centre. He explained that the statistics include only incidents that have been carefully examined and verified as unequivocally antisemitic.

At the same time, victims remain reluctant to report incidents, either out of resignation or fear that doing so could make them even greater targets. “But every report helps make the true scale of the problem visible,” Edelman added.

Of the 671 incidents, 191 were attributed to a Muslim background, 162 to a left-wing background and 147 to a right-wing background. In 171 cases, a clear ideological classification was not possible. The figures demonstrate that antisemitism emerges from different ideological environments.

However, the report identifies notable differences between categories of incidents. Of the 30 physical assaults and threats, 19 involved perpetrators with a Muslim background, compared with four attributed to the right and three to the left. The remaining four cases could not be assigned to a specific ideological background.

Right-wing antisemitism was the most prevalent background in cases of targeted property damage, accounting for 28 of the 68 incidents. A further 22 cases could not be attributed to a specific ideology, while 14 were classified as left-wing and four as having a Muslim background.

Left-wing antisemitism was particularly prominent in mass mailings, accounting for 81 of the 226 incidents in this category. It was also prevalent in calls for terrorism or the glorification of terrorist acts, with 21 of the 70 recorded cases attributed to a left-wing background.

Benjamin Nägele, Secretary-General of the IKG, stressed that Jewish life in Vienna continues to depend on extensive security arrangements.

“Our community has had to rely on extensive security measures for years. The fact that we have had to become accustomed to this must never mean that we accept antisemitism and the threats associated with it as normal,” he said.

Nägele called on those in positions of influence to deny antisemitic agitators the space to spread their messages, stressing the importance of strengthening social cohesion.

The report underscores the continuing challenge of protecting Jewish life in Austria, as the overall number of recorded incidents remains substantially above pre-7 October 2023 levels and physical assaults and threats have increased.