They approved of the statement: "Based on Israel's policies, I can understand people having something against the Jews."

The proportion of Germans who agreed with that view increased from 28 per cent in 2014 to 40 per cent in 2016.

Before the results of the study were revealed, Dr Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told the Die Welt newspaper: "We already notice that in German society solidarity with Israel has declined."

He added that in modern antisemitism, the Nazis' victims are turned into perpetrators.