Unidentified assailants hurled incendiary devices into an Israeli restaurant in Munich on Thursday night in what authorities suspect was an antisemitic attack.
“I received the news with great dismay that the Israeli restaurant Eclipse in the Maxvorstadt district was the target of an arson attack last night,” Mayor Dominik Krause wrote in a statement on Friday.
No injuries were reported, but the attack caused damage worth several thousand euros after three devices were thrown through the restaurant’s windows, according to dpa, the German Press Agency. Police said the type of devices used remains under investigation.
“The Munich Police Headquarters is proceeding on the assumption of an antisemitic motive,” the mayor stated. “This is intolerable. I am currently following the Munich police investigation very closely. My great hope is that the perpetrators will soon be apprehended and that the city will unite even more closely in the fight against antisemitism.”
The Central Council of Jews in Germany wrote in a social media post that now was a “good moment to display solidarity.”
Gady Gronich, CEO and chief of staff to the president of the Munich-based Conference of European Rabbis, stated that “this attack is not an isolated incident, but part of a dangerous trend we have been seeing since Oct. 7, 2023: growing hatred against Jews—open, aggressive, and uninhibited.”
“What’s needed is a clear line: 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,” Gronich said.
