Australian Jews up security, conceal identity amid stream of antisemitic attacks

Police and private security stationed outside Jewish school as children return from summer break; community leader says some Jews removing kippot and mezuzot

Screen capture from video of antisemitic graffiti found in Sydney, Australia, January 30, 2025. (9News. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Screen capture from video of antisemitic graffiti found in Sydney, Australia, January 30, 2025. (9News. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) — Jewish students in Sydney returned to school on Friday with a heightened security presence, days after police said they foiled a planned antisemitic attack in the city using a trailer filled with explosives.

A spate of attacks in recent months have alarmed the country’s Jews, drawn criticism from Israel and placed pressure on the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who faces re-election in polls that must be held by May.

Antisemitic graffiti was sprayed on three sites including the Mount Sinai College in the city’s east early on Thursday, one of almost a dozen incidents in the city in recent months that police say appeared to be coordinated.

Students there returned on Friday after Australia’s summer break, with police and private security stationed outside the building.

“We’re really grateful that the police are here and protecting us,” said Gina Ferrer, a mother dropping off her child at the school.

“I love this country, I think it’s the best country in the world, but for the first time in my life I actually feel really let down by Australia.”

Matt Thistlethwaite, the federal lawmaker for the area which has a relatively Jewish population, said he had been working with local police to increase patrols in the area.

Heightened security

Australia has been grappling with a series of antisemitic attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war in late 2023.

Police in the state of New South Wales, which includes Sydney, said on Wednesday they had found explosives in a caravan, or trailer, that could have created a blast wave of 40 meters (130 feet).

Swastikas daubed on a synagogue in Newtown, Sydney, Australia, on January 11, 2025. (Screen grab via ABC News)

There was some indication the explosives might be used in an antisemitic attack that could have caused mass casualties, police said.

The escalating attacks have prompted Jews to hire security guards for private events and remove visible signs of their Jewish identity, according to security companies and community leaders.

Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the umbrella group for Australia’s Jews, said some Jews were removing their kippot, the skullcaps worn by men as a symbol of faith, while outside, and taking down mezuzahs, parchment scrolls containing Hebrew verses traditionally attached to the doorframes of Jewish homes.

“The more of these attacks that we see, and particularly given their gravity and the scale, people will begin to question how they can live in Australia as Jews, and that will then force them into a very difficult choice,” he said.

Stephen Vogel, founder of Sayeret Security, a private security company catering to the Jewish community in Sydney, said he had seen an increase in business in recent weeks.

“People are a little bit more nervous at the moment and want to have security for their functions, just to mitigate any potential risk,” he said.

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