Munich Israeli restaurant attack probed as suspected antisemitic crime

Shattered display windows and pyrotechnic devices thrown into Eclipse Grillbar turned a quiet stretch of Heßstraße in Munich-Maxvorstadt into a crime scene just after closing time. Police said residents called in loud bangs around 12:45 a.m., and investigators now classify the damage as a politically motivated attack with an antisemitic motive under close review.

No one was injured, but the restaurant took damage estimated in the several-thousand-euro range. Depending on the report, two or three storefront windows were broken or forcibly damaged. Munich police state security, the unit that handles politically sensitive crimes, took over the case, and the Munich General Prosecutor’s Office said the Bavarian judiciary’s central antisemitism officer also assumed responsibility.

The restaurant’s operators said they had received no direct threats before the attack. Grigori Dratva, the owner’s brother-in-law and an employee, said the business would reopen immediately, a message meant to steady staff and regulars after the overnight disruption. Eclipse Grillbar has operated since 2007 and is described in local reporting as Munich’s first authentic Israeli restaurant, a dining room of roughly 70 to 80 seats in the city’s university district where service depends on routine, trust and quick turnover.

The attack drew fast political and communal reaction. Munich deputy mayor Dominik Krause condemned it as unbearable and linked the violence to rising Israel-related antisemitism since October 7, 2023, while Bavaria’s antisemitism commissioner Ludwig Spaenle said criticism of Israeli government policy can never justify attacks on Jewish or Israeli places. The Central Council of Jews in Germany called for solidarity with Eclipse, and the Conference of European Rabbis, based in Munich, warned that the incident was not a one-off but part of a dangerous trend. CER General Secretary Gady Gronich said hostility toward Jews has become more open and aggressive.

The case landed against a larger national backdrop. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights said German police recorded 6,236 politically motivated crimes with an antisemitic motive in 2024, up 20.8 percent from the year before, with about 2,782 in the last quarter of 2023. Bundesverband RIAS said it documented 8,627 antisemitic incidents in Germany in 2024, about 24 a day. In Munich, a solidarity rally was planned for 5 p.m. in front of the restaurant, where the damage left not just broken glass but another warning about the vulnerability of Jewish businesses.