An Israeli restaurant in Munich was attacked overnight when several storefront windows were smashed and pyrotechnic devices were thrown inside, police said on Friday. No one was injured, but the damage was estimated at several thousand euros. It remains unclear who carried out the attack or how many people were involved.
Authorities and the restaurant’s management believe the incident was motivated by antisemitism. The Polizeilicher Staatsschutz, the unit that handles politically motivated crimes, has taken over the investigation.
Emergency services received a call at about 12:45 a.m. reporting three loud bangs on Hessstrasse in the Maxvorstadt district, near the university area, old town and central train station. Police said the display windows were forcibly damaged and pyrotechnic devices were thrown into the venue. Officers were still securing evidence at the scene on Friday morning.
The 70-seat restaurant’s operators told the dpa news agency they had received no direct threats beforehand and planned to reopen as usual. “We won’t be intimidated. We’re reopening,” said Grigori Dratva, the owner’s brother-in-law and an employee. The Central Council of Jews in Germany urged solidarity with the Eclipse restaurant in an Instagram post.
Germany has seen a rise in crimes suspected to be driven by antisemitism since the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel and amid subsequent conflicts in the Middle East, the BfV domestic intelligence service has reported. Renewed fighting in Iran, Lebanon and the wider region in recent weeks has brought the issue back into focus.
The European Rabbis’ Conference, based in Munich, warned the attack “is not one-off, rather part of a dangerous trend that we are seeing since October 7, 2023.” CER General Secretary Gady Gronich said Munich must remain a safe place for Jews and called for “zero tolerance against antisemitism, with harsh punishments that do not lead to repeat incidents, and no room for those who sow hate in our society.”
Edited by: Karl Sexton
