Report warns of growing threat of deadly attacks on synagogues worldwide

Threats to synagogues and Jewish worshipers are rising around the world, with attackers increasingly using firearms, incendiary devices and vehicle-ramming tactics, a new report has warned.

Attacks increasingly extend beyond synagogue buildings to target congregants traveling to and from prayer services, according to the document released Thursday by Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry ahead of the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht on November 9.

It examined attacks and threats against Jewish institutions and worshipers between October 2023 and September 2026.

Incidents and thwarted plots tend to cluster around Shabbat and Jewish holidays, the report noted. This was fatally demonstrated in October 2025, when a terrorist attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester during Yom Kippur killed two people and wounded six.

In the UK, a record 227 incidents involving synagogues were documented in 2025, including 50 that specifically targeted congregants traveling to or from prayer services, according to the Community Security Trust (CST). Attackers are likely exploiting the predictable schedules and travel routes of worshipers, the ministry said.

Arson and the throwing of Molotov cocktails have also emerged as prominent methods of attacking Jewish institutions, the report found. Such attacks threaten not only buildings and religious objects, including Torah scrolls, but also congregants inside.

In Canada, the report documents 10 incidents of vandalism and arson against the Shaarei Torah community in Toronto. The country also experienced a series of shootings targeting synagogues in the Toronto area in March 2026, including attacks on Temple Emanu-El, BAYT and Shaarei Shomayim. In September, gunfire was directed at a synagogue in Belleville during Yom Kippur services.

In Germany, 11 cases of synagogue vandalism were recorded in the state of Hesse alone in 2025. Other incidents included Molotov cocktail attacks in Berlin and Oldenburg and an attempted arson attack at a synagogue in Giessen in January 2026.

In France, authorities thwarted a potential attack near a synagogue in Sarcelles in July 2026 after discovering a vehicle containing a rifle and a handgun. Approximately 300 people were evacuated. The report also records the theft of 12 Torah scrolls from the Grand Synagogue in Levallois-Perret, near Paris, that month.

In the United States, meanwhile, false bomb threats against synagogues declined sharply from 1,009 in 2023 to 59 in 2025. However, attacks involving lethal weapons increased, with 32 such attacks documented in the United States in 2025, compared with 23 in 2024.

The report raised additional concerns about the possible involvement of terrorist networks and state actors, including Iran, in attacks carried out through local criminal intermediaries.

Investigations and security assessments relating to incidents in Montreal, Toronto and Sydney point to a suspected pattern in which local criminals are recruited and paid to carry out arson and other attacks, allowing those behind the operations to conceal their involvement.

In one Montreal case, $15,000 was allegedly offered to criminals to set fire to the Beth Tikvah synagogue, the report noted. It also described the recruitment of local criminal networks in connection with attacks in Sydney.

“The data in this report point to an unacceptable reality,” said Avi Cohen-Scali, director general of the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry. “This is not merely a statistic; it serves as a grave warning sign for any sovereign state.”

Cohen-Scali called upon governments and law enforcement authorities worldwide to bolster the protection of Jewish institutions and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.