BERLIN (JTA) – A major increase in antisemitic and right-wing violent attacks in Germany is “extremely worrying,” according to the country’s interior minister. The number of right-wing extremist violent crimes in 2014 was 22.9 percent higher than in 2013, according to the annual report of the Ministry of the Interior released this month. Antisemitic crimes rose 25.2 percent to 1,596 in 2014 after declining in 2013. In releasing the statistics, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere described an “extremely worrying” situation in which “xenophobic, antisemitic and racially motivated crimes and violent attacks have increased. Attacks are directed specifically against churches, synagogues and mosques. Refugees and their temporary housing are increasingly coming under attack.”