A man set the door of a synagogue alight and a group of protesters stormed an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne on Friday night, the latest in a wave of antisemitic attacks in Australian cities.
About 20 people were inside the synagogue in the downtown area of East Melbourne when a man poured flammable liquid on the front door of the synagogue on Albert Street before setting it on fire, Victoria state police said.
The group was having Shabbat dinner, marking the beginning of the Jewish day of rest, when the attack took place at 8 p.m. local time, Alex Ryvchin, the co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), wrote on X.
No one was injured and firefighters extinguished the small blaze, police said, adding that the perpetrator, who remains unidentified, fled the scene.
Just over 1 kilometer to the west on Hardware Lane – one of the city’s most popular areas for restaurants and nightlife – about 20 protesters stormed into an Israeli restaurant, chanting slogans, police said. A 28-year-old was arrested for hindering police, and has been released on a summons.
Speaking at a press briefing, Acting Commander Zorka Dunstan of Victoria state police said officers were also investigating a third attack early Saturday morning in which three cars were set on fire near a business in the northeastern suburb of Greensborough.
Suspects spray-painted the cars and the walls of the buildings, she said, adding that the business has been targeted by pro-Palestine protesters in the past.
The security investigation unit, part of the counter-terrorism command, is investigating all the incidents, though police have yet to declare whether they constitute a terrorism incident, Dunstan said.
“We will examine the intent and the ideology of the persons or person involved,” she said.
Many among Australia’s 117,000-strong Jewish population are anxious after spate of antisemitic attacks in the country’s two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, since late last year – including arson attacks on synagogues, and swastikas scrawled on buildings and cars.
The latest attacks drew condemnation from officials and community leaders on Saturday.
Denouncing the synagogue attack on X Saturday, Premier of Victoria Jacinta Allan said it was “designed to shatter…peace and traumatize Jewish families.”
“That it happened on Shabbat makes it all the more abhorrent,” she added, noting that children and women were among the people present at the venue.
“Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate, and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of anti-Semitism,” she said.
Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece described the attack as “shocking,” according to Nine News.
“I cannot condemn this sort of behavior in stronger terms… this is a city of peace and tolerance, and we will not stand for this,” he said.
Ryvchin, from the ECAJ, urged the nation to condemn “these deplorable crimes.”
“Those responsible cannot be reasoned with or appeased. They must be confronted with the full force of the law,” he wrote on X.