Why European Jews fear there may be no safer haven amid growing antisemitism

A Washington Times report by Eric J. Lyman describes growing anxiety among Europe’s Jewish communities as antisemitic incidents rise across the continent, reviving fears of a renewed Jewish exodus. Analysts and community members interviewed in the report suggest that, unlike in earlier crises, European Jews today face a troubling question: If conditions worsen, where could they realistically go? 

For centuries, Jewish communities under threat have had to weigh difficult choices about whether to remain or leave. In Lyman’s report, Daniel Staetsky, director of the London-based European Jewish Demography Unit at the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, noted that when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, “around half of Jews left” Germany, even though “nobody knew the ’Final Solution’ would come in 1939.” Mr. Staetsky also pointed to the upheaval surrounding the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 as another moment when emigration became part of the Jewish response to crisis. 

Today, however, some experts argue that European Jews face a predicament with fewer clear refuge destinations. Sergio DellaPergola, a professor emeritus specializing in Jewish population studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the situation is approaching what he called “an unprecedented level of hostility by modern standards.” 

“Where should they go?” Mr. DellaPergola asked, laying out what he sees as a grim geography of limited options. “If I’m a Jew in Rome, should I go to Paris? It’s even worse there. From Paris to Brussels? That’s even worse.”

Mr. DellaPergola also raised the difficulty of emigrating beyond Europe. “Do I go to the United States? That’s nearly impossible now because there are very stringent immigration standards,” he said. He dismissed as insufficient the idea of asylum offers for only a small number of British Jews, calling it “grotesque” given the scale of the broader problem. 

Even Israel, traditionally a much-desired destination for Jewish immigration under Aliyah, Israel’s “Law of Return” that allows Jews to emigrate there and obtain citizenship, comes with greater risk. “It’s a country at war,” Mr. DellaPergola noted. 

The report cites Israeli Interior Ministry data showing that about 3,300 French Jews moved to Israel last year under Aliyah. That’s an increase of nearly 50% from the previous year, though full emigration data for 2025 will not be complete for several months. 

Other potential destinations, Mr. DellaPergola suggested, are not immune from the broader rise in antisemitism. “Canada or Australia? They are very nice countries, but antisemitism is on the rise everywhere,” he said. 

The Washington Times report grounds these concerns in events unfolding across Europe. Rome’s Jewish community, estimated at 13,000 to 15,000 people, has seen increased security and vandalism, including antisemitic symbols spray-painted on walls, along with aggressive confrontations outside a Jewish school and at least one physical attack on Israeli tourists. 

In Rome’s historic Jewish quarter, a Jewish waiter identified only as Marco described an atmosphere of rising tension. “I haven’t heard of anyone who’s left because of what’s been happening,” he said. “But people talk about it. Relatives in New York and Israel come up in conversation more often. It’s a possibility that’s coming into focus.”

The experience is not confined to Italy. Mr. Lyman reports that sympathy for Israel surged across Europe after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, but that sentiment later shifted into anger over Palestinian suffering during Israel’s military response. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project recorded hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrations each month over the past year, most peaceful but some involving clashes with police, arrests and damage to Jewish cultural sites. 

Gunther Jikeli, a professor of Germanic and Jewish studies at Indiana University, told The Washington Times that his research has shown a dramatic increase in antisemitic acts and violent incidents against Jews or Jewish institutions since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Preliminary results, he said, show some flattening from the peaks of 2023 and 2024, though incidents remain well above prewar baselines. 

Despite these fears, Mr. Jikeli emphasized that many European Jews remain deeply attached to their countries. “I think most European Jews like their home and they want to stay,” he said. “But, at the same time, many must be asking themselves, ’Do my children have a future in my country?’”

The question of whether Europe can still feel secure for Jewish life has returned with urgency, Mr. Lyman’s report suggests. While emigration remains largely a topic of discussion rather than mass movement, the renewed debate reflects the growing uncertainty facing Jewish communities across the continent.