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According to the verdict, the attacker struck Shapira with his fist and kicked him in the face, leaving the Jewish student with a complex facial fracture and a brain hemorrhage.
By Ailin Vilches Arguello, The Algemeiner
A German court sentenced a 24-year-old man from Berlin to three years in prison on Thursday for the brutal assault of a Jewish student, ruling that the attack— which left the victim with serious injuries — was fueled by antisemitic hatred.
Formerly a student at the Free University of Berlin (FU), the defendant was found guilty for the attack on Lahav Shapira, the grandson of Amitzur Shapira — one of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Last year, Shapira, 32, was attacked outside a bar in the central Mitte district of Germany’s capital.
His brother, Shahak Shapira — a popular comedian based in Germany — said the attack happened “unannounced.”
Shahak claimed that the attacker recognized Lahav, spoke to him aggressively, and followed him when he left the bar.
Earlier in the trial, Lahav appeared as a witness and gave his testimony on the assault, recounting how the severe injuries he sustained forced him to stay at home for several weeks after the attack.
According to the verdict, the attacker struck Shapira with his fist and kicked him in the face, leaving the Jewish student with a complex facial fracture and a brain hemorrhage.
In the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas pogrom, in which over 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage, Shapira emerged as a vocal advocate for Israel on campus.
German prosecutor Tim Kaufmann, who had requested a sentence of two years and four months for the attack, described the assault on Shapira as a clear example of antisemitic violence.
“Lahav Shapira was attacked because he is Jewish and campaigned against antisemitism,” Kaufmann said.
During the trial, the defendant admitted following Shapira as he left the bar and physically assaulting him. However, he argued that the incident was not about politics or antisemitism, but rather was related to Shapira’s behavior in a WhatsApp group and his tearing down of a poster at the university.
“I am sorry to have caused you pain,” the defendant said, apologizing to Shapira before the verdict was announced.
After waiting a year and a half, Shapira said he was relieved the trial had concluded and hoped the outcome would serve as a lesson to others not to repeat such actions.
“I hope this will also be a sign … to do something about antisemitism in the university because we have a lot to deal with,” Shapira told DW News. “It’s a pretty hard time right now.”
“I hope that at least this will change something for some people,” he continued.
A Berlin court has ruled that an attack on a Jewish student in 2024 was an "act of antisemitism". Lahav Shapira's attacker was found guilty of grievous bodily harm and sentenced to three years in prison. pic.twitter.com/yUBDM2oAVk
— DW Politics (@dw_politics) April 17, 2025
His brother called the verdict a “huge relief” but emphasized that action and reforms from the university are still needed, saying, “We’re not done yet.”
“My brother doesn’t even have an Israeli passport. He left Israel when he was 9,” Shahak wrote in a post on X. “Like many other Jewish students, he found himself feeling unsafe as his fellow students suddenly called for an Intifada against him.”
After 1.5 years, a verdict was reached today and my brother‘s attacker was sentenced to 3 years in prison. The court declared the antisemitic motive proven beyond doubt. It's a huge relief for us. But we're not done yet. pic.twitter.com/Bva98ydIIr
— Shahak Shapira (@ShahakShapira) April 17, 2025
This conviction comes as authorities in Germany continue to grapple with a rising wave of antisemitism and pro-Hamas activism across the country.
On Thursday, German police arrested five students who participated in an anti-Israel protest at Humboldt University in Berlin, where they chanted antisemitic slogans and vandalized school property.
Earlier this month, German authorities issued deportation orders for three EU citizens and one US citizen living in Berlin over their participation in several pro-Hamas demonstrations.
According to the German State Office for Immigration, the four deportees, identified as Hamas sympathizers, “pose a threat to public order.”
Germany has experienced a sharp spike in antisemitism amid the war in Gaza. In just the first six months of 2024 alone, the number of antisemitic incidents in Berlin surpassed the total recorded for the entire previous year, according to Germany’s Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS).
The figures compiled by RIAS were the highest count for a single year since the federally funded body began monitoring antisemitic incidents in 2015, showing the German capital averaged nearly eight anti-Jewish outrages a day from January to June last year.
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), police registered 5,154 antisemitic incidents in Germany in 2023, a 95 percent increase compared to the previous year.
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