Melbourne synagogue sustains serious damage in suspected antisemitic arson attack

Australian police say they have launched an investigation into a “suspicious” blaze that broke out before dawn Friday in a Melbourne synagogue, which the country’s prime minister denounces as an antisemitic arson attack.

“No one was injured during the incident and the synagogue sustained significant damage,” Victoria state police say in a statement. Television images show firefighters hosing down the embers through the door of the Addas Israel Synagogue in the suburb of Ripponlea.

“I have zero tolerance for antisemitism. It has absolutely no place in Australia,” says Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “The violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is an outrage. The attack has risked lives and is clearly aimed at creating fear in the community.”

“The people involved must be caught and face the full force of the law.”

Albanese also says “this deliberate, unlawful attack goes against everything we are as Australians and everything we have worked so hard to build as a nation.”

????BREAKING: Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Australia, targeted in an arson attack. Two injuries and significant damage reported. pic.twitter.com/CsHZGVBRdn

— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) December 5, 2024

Sky News Australia cites witnesses who say they heard banging on the synagogue’s door and when they opened it two masked men were dousing the front of the building with gasoline before setting it aflame.

The broadcaster also cites reports saying two people were lightly hurt.

“The firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne appears to be another shocking escalation of the hate that we have seen brazenly displayed on the streets of Melbourne every week for over a year,” says the Zionist Federation of Australia’s head Jeremy Leibler. “No one should be surprised; this violent attack is a direct consequence of words turning into actions. Jew-hatred, left unchecked, endangers all Australians.”