He grew up as the son of Maria Carlsson, translator, and Rudolf Augstein, publisher of Germany's leading news magazine Der Spiegel.

In the 2012 edition of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's (SWC) list of Top Ten Anti-Semitic/Anti-Israel Slurs, Augstein was ranked ninth, for statements critical of Israel such as "Israel's nuclear power is a danger to the already fragile peace of the world", "the ultra-orthodox Hareidim...are cut from the same cloth as their Islamic fundamentalist opponents", "[violence in the middle east always benefits] the insane and unscrupulous.

[2] In response to the ranking, the influential conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote that "the choice of Jakob Augstein for ninth place on the list of the 10 worst anti-Semites is a serious intellectual and strategic error made by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Augstein immediately agreed to the debate but Rabbi Abraham Cooper, who is one of the founders of the SWC and responsible for compiling the list, said he needed time to consider the offer.

Cooper responded to the magazine, writing that "Mr. Augstein must publicly apologize in advance for the statements that earned him his designation on the Wiesenthal Center's Top Ten anti-Semitism List" otherwise he would refuse to "sit in the same room with him."

The magazine then proposed that the debate would be held over Skype so that the two men wouldn't have to be seated in the same room, but Cooper again reiterated that he would not participate unless Augstein first apologized.