A suspected Islamic State supporter was placed in remand custody on Sunday for allegedly planning to attack the Israeli embassy in Berlin with firearms, prosecutors said.
An investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice in the south-western city of Karlsruhe issued a formal arrest warrant for the man, a Libyan, a spokeswoman for the German Federal Prosecutor told dpa.
The man had been detained in a raid by a heavily armed police unit on his flat in the Berlin suburb of Bernau on Saturday.
According to a report in the mass-circulation Bild newspaper, the man entered Germany in November 2022, applying for asylum in January the following year. This was rejected eight months later, and the man has not appealed against the ruling.
While there is no general block on deportations from Germany to Libya, enforcing deportation is difficult as a result of a lack of functioning state structures in the North African country.
Federal prosecutors, releasing more information on Sunday, said the suspect, who has been named only as Omar A in line with Germany's strict privacy laws, had intended to carry out "a high-profile attack with firearms on the Israeli embassy in Berlin."
"To plan the attack, the suspect exchanged information with an {Islamic State] member in a chat messenger," the statement continued.
In addition to the suspect's flat in Bernau, police also raided a flat in the western German town of Sankt Augustin in connection with the case. However, prosecutors said the residents are not suspected of a crime.
Since the attack by Palestinian Hamas militants and other extremists on Israel on October 7, 2023, police say they have charted a sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents in Germany.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned what he said was a "cowardly attack plan."
The case has reignited debate in Germany on measures to protect against terrorism. Politicians from the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Greens have called for more funding for the security authorities.
Germany's interior and justice ministers stressed the importance of protecting Israeli and Jewish institutions.
"We are acting with the utmost vigilance and attention in view of the high threat posed by Islamist, anti-Semitic and anti-Israel violence," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said after the statement by prosecutors.
"The protection of Israeli institutions in Germany is particularly important in these times when fanatical hatred of Israel and anti-Semitism are gaining ground worldwide – and Islamist terrorism is constantly finding new supporters," Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said separately.
Law enforcement agencies will continue to "do everything in their power to ensure that the dangerous plans of those who hate Israel and anti-Semites do not come to fruition," he said.
The security precautions at Jewish and Israeli institutions in Berlin are initially not being tightened any further, however, and police pointed out that they are already high. More than 160 properties are currently guarded, said spokeswoman Beate Ostertag.
A "maximum high level" generally applies to the Israeli embassy. The situation has not changed as a result of the arrest. However, the Berlin police are constantly reassessing the situation and are in dialogue with national and international authorities, she said.
Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor expressed his thanks to the German security authorities. "Muslim anti-Semitism is not restricted to hate-filled rhetoric but promotes global terrorism," he told dpa.
Shots were exchanged with police near Israel's consulate in Munich at the beginning of September in what investigators believe was an attempted terrorist attack.
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