European rabbis launch seven-point manifesto to combat antisemitism in the EU

“Almost every Jewish school and synagogue in Europe sits behind guards, steel barriers and concrete blocks,” Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt told politicians, policymakers and journalists in Brussels. “Jewish children are growing up believing this is normal. It is not.”

The president of the Conference of European Rabbis launched the seven-point manifesto, titled “A Call to End the Violent Hatred,” at the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the EU. The document says European governments must look beyond physical security and dismantle the ideological and financial infrastructure driving hostility against Jewish communities.

Goldschmidt said the goal should not be for Jewish institutions merely to survive behind fortifications. “The test is not whether Jewish communities can survive behind concrete barriers, but whether Jewish life can flourish openly, safely and with dignity,” he said.

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Almost every Jewish school and synagogue in Europe sits behind guards, steel barriers and concrete blocks. Jewish children are growing up believing this is normal. It is not.

The manifesto points to what it describes as a sharp escalation in violence across Europe. It cites the torching of four Hatzola NW ambulances outside a synagogue in a London suburb, an explosive attack on a synagogue in Liège, a torched car in Antwerp’s Jewish quarter, an attack targeting a Jewish school in Amsterdam, the fatal shooting of two worshippers at a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur in 2025, and a stabbing spree in Golders Green.

The document also says hate marches have filled European capitals for three years. It links the threats to findings by European security services and courts concerning the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and alleged proxy attacks and plots against Jewish citizens.

The first of the manifesto’s seven proposals calls for religious leaders to receive training and certification. Clerics arriving from abroad would need minimum language skills and a basic understanding of democratic rights and responsibilities. Institutions would also have to provide instruction on religious freedom and Holocaust remembrance. Authorities would have the power to revoke visas, licenses or permits from clerics who incite hatred or glorify terrorism.

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The test is not whether Jewish communities can survive behind concrete barriers, but whether Jewish life can flourish openly, safely and with dignity.