A pizzeria in the German city of Fürth, Bavaria, is banning Israelis in protest against the ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in the second such antisemitic incident in the country in as many weeks.
The move sparked outrage, with the local Jewish community in the southeastern state denouncing the move as a rerun of the antisemitism of Nazi Germany, while the Israeli embassy in Berlin also stated that it seemed like a return to the 1930s.
“We believe that children should not be harmed under any circumstances,” a sign posted at the entrance to Pizza Zulu read, according to an image circulating on social media. “We will not remain silent like the rest of the world. ... We have decided to protest and will no longer welcome Israelis in the restaurant. We will be happy to welcome them again when they decide to open their eyes, ears and hearts.”
“Such exclusion is simply shameful and horrific,” the chairwoman of the Jewish Community of Fürth, Julia Tschekalina, told the dpa (Deutsche Presse-Agentur) news agency. The Jewish leader said it was reminiscent of the antisemitism of nine decades ago in the lead-up to the Holocaust. “That’s how it started back then, too,” she added.
“The 1930s are back, this time in Fürth. This is neither a protest nor a misunderstanding. This is crystal-clear antisemitism. That’s how it started back then: step by step, sign by sign,” the Israeli embassy in Berlin said in a statement on X.
Die 30er-Jahre sind zurück, diesmal in Fürth.
— Botschaft Israel (@IsraelinGermany) September 24, 2025
An der Tür eines Lokals hing:
“Israelische Bürger sind hier nicht willkommen.“
Das ist kein Protest und kein Missverständnis. Das ist glasklarer Antisemitismus. So hat es damals angefangen: Schritt für Schritt, Schild für Schild.… pic.twitter.com/tH18ZgN30Z
The incident comes a week after a shop owner in the northern German town of Flensburg hung a sign in his establishment’s window reading “Jews are forbidden here.”
Earlier this month, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz cautioned that criticism of Israel was increasingly being used as a pretext for stoking hatred against Jews, noting that antisemitism had “become louder, more open, more brazen, more violent almost every day” since the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the war in Gaza.
