German government's top official responsible for efforts against anti-Semitism warned Jews in the country to avoid wearing kippa in public over the weekend, due to rising anti-Semitic activities. 

"I can't tell Jews to wear the kippa everywhere in Germany,” Commissioner Felix Klein said while referring to the traditional Jewish skullcap. Klein said his views had "changed compared to what is used to be." 

Israel's President Reuven Rivlin said the recommendation amounted to "an admittance that, again, Jews are not safe on German soil."

A sharp increase in the number of anti-Semitic offenses was recorded by the German government last year.

Official figures showed 1,646 hate crimes against Jews were committed in 2018 – an increase of 10 percent on the previous year. Currently, roughly 200,000 Jews live in Germany. 

Physical attacks against Jews in Germany also rose in the same period, with 62 violent incidents recorded, up from 37 in 2017.

Jewish groups have warned that a rise in popularity of far-right groups is fostering anti-Semitism and hatred of other minorities throughout Europe.

Since 2017, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been the country's main opposition party. AfD is openly against immigration but the party denies holding anti-Semitic views.

However, a number of comments from their politicians, including remarks about the Holocaust, have drawn criticism from Jewish groups and other politicians.

Last year, a survey of thousands of European Jews revealed that many were increasingly worried about anti-Semitism.

(With input from agencies.) 

(Cover: A man wearing a Jewish kippa skullcap reads the program as he attends a ceremony at the Synagogue Rykestrasse in Berlin on November 9, 2018 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Kristallnacht Nazi pogrom. /VCG Photo)