Rise in anti-Semitic crime in Germany in 2018, report finds

Germany's Central Council of Jews is calling for action following a report showing a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in the country.

The Tagesspiegel newspaper reported that preliminary government figures provided at the request of the Left Party to parliament showed 1,646 anti-Semitic crimes registered in 2018, up from 1,504 in 2017.

Violent crimes rose from 37 to 62.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said the government's position "is fully clear - that anti-Semitism has no place in Germany".

But Central Council of Jews president Josef Schuster called for a "stronger commitment" from police, politicians and the judiciary.

"The latest numbers are not yet official but they reflect a trend, and that's alarming," he said.

"What Jews had already felt subjectively has been confirmed by the statistics."

-Press Association