Australian authorities condemn arson attack on Melbourne synagogue

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SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian authorities on Saturday condemned what they said was an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a spate of incidents against the nation’s Jewish community.

The fire at the entrance to the synagogue in the east of Victoria’s state capital was sparked on Friday night, police said in a statement. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and there were no injuries to the 20 people inside.

The attack, one of several recent antisemitic incidents in Australia, comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists who set a blaze that injured one and caused widespread damage.

Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan on Saturday said it was “absolutely appalling” that a second Jewish synagogue had been attacked.

“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,” Allan said in a statement.

Police said they believed the attack, in which flammable liquid was poured on the synagogue’s front door and set alight, was carried out by a male suspect. He has not been identified but is thought to be white and aged in his 30s.

There is “no place in our society for antisemitic or hate-based behaviour,” police said.

Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews, said in a statement the fire was set as those inside sat down to Shabbat dinner.

Authorities said they were probing if the attack was linked to an incident on Friday night at an inner-city restaurant in which one person was arrested for hindering police.

The Israeli restaurant was extensively damaged in the incident, Ryvchin said.

“These events are a severe escalation directed towards our community,” he said.

Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war in late 2023.

The incidents have included a fake plan set up by organised crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.

(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by William Mallard and Tom Hogue)