European Parliament President Roberta Metsola on Wednesday warned of an ongoing “assault on everything Europe stands for,” which she said is being waged via attacks on Jewish community sites and members.
“Synagogues attacked. Schools targeted. Ambulances set on fire. Jewish families afraid to walk the streets. These are not isolated incidents,” Metsola told dozens of Jewish community leaders and E.U. politicians at the annual European Jewish Association (EJA), which opened in Brussels on Wednesday.
European Jewish communities have suffered a series of recent attacks across the continent, including the firebombing attempt on a synagogue in London and a separate arson attack in March in which four ambulances belonging to a Jewish emergency service were set ablaze outside a synagogue in Golders Green.
In Belgium and the Netherlands, authorities have investigated synagogue arsons and explosions, prompting the deployment in Antwerp of soldiers to guard Jewish schools and community sites.
Jewish institutions have also been surveilled by suspects gathering intelligence on synagogues and individuals, while community members report growing intimidation in public spaces. Officials and researchers say these incidents form part of a broader surge in antisemitic violence and threats across Europe since the outbreak of the Gaza war, rather than isolated acts.
Held under the theme “Global Intifada: Jewish Communities on the Frontlines,” the high-level gathering focused on this surge in antisemitism, rising violence and growing fear among Jews in public spaces, organizers said.
EJA Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin presented a policy demand that he said was gaining urgency: the establishment of Special Protected Minority Status for Jews in European countries, aimed at ensuring enforceable legal protections, security guarantees, and long-term safeguards for Jewish life.
“We are witnessing not just a rise in antisemitism, but the collapse of the sense of security for Jews across Europe,” said Margolin. “When Jewish life depends on armed protection, when identity must be hidden, when fear becomes normal - this is not a Jewish problem, this is a European failure.”
E.U. Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, who also addressed the opening session, said: “Antisemitism has no place in Europe—not in our streets, not in our institutions, and not online.”
