Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says an antisemitic attack on a Melbourne synagogue is “reprehensible” and has demanded Anthony Albanese “take all action” to end similar hate crimes.
A 34-year-old man from New South Wales has been charged after allegedly entering the grounds of the East Melbourne Hebrew congregation on Albert Street at about 8pm on Friday and pouring a flammable liquid on the front door of the building, setting it on fire.
Two other potentially linked incidents, including an arrest after an incident between protesters and police at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne’s CBD, also took place overnight on Friday.
“I view with utmost gravity the antisemitic attacks that occurred last night in Melbourne, which included attempted arson of a synagogue in the city and a violent assault against an Israeli restaurant by pro-Palestinian rioters,” Netanyahu said via series of posts on X on Sunday morning.
“The reprehensible antisemitic attacks, with calls of ‘Death to the IDF’ and an attempt to attack a place of worship, are severe hate crimes that must be uprooted.
“The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community, and we demand that the Australian government take all action to deal with the rioters to the fullest extent of the law and prevent similar attacks in the future.”
Netanyahu was joined on social media by Israeli president Isaac Herzog, who overnight said via X that he “condemn[ed] outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath” and that the attack must be Australia’s “last”.
“It is intolerable that in 2025, we are still faced with the chilling image of an attempt to burn Jews alive as they pray, and attacks on Jewish businesses,” he said, urging the government to confront the “stain” of antisemitism with “urgency and resolve”.
Foreign minister for Israel, Gideon Sa’ar, said on Saturday via X that Israel “stands firmly with the Jewish community in Australia” and that the Australian government “must do more to fight this poisonous disease”.
On Sunday, Tony Burke said the synagogue incident was an “attack on Australia”.
“[This] is not simply an arson attack, what matters here is there is an attack on Australia, an attack on Australian values. And we are here today in solidarity to stand together with the community,” the home affairs minister told reporters in Melbourne.
He said the Israeli ambassador to Australia had called to thank him for heading to Melbourne in the attack’s aftermath, where he met with community leaders and the synagogue’s Rabbi Dovid Gutnick.
Burke said authorities hadn’t yet drawn links between the three incidents, but that the attacks were linked to “bigotry”.
He was joined outside the synagogue by former attorney general and Jewish MP, Mark Dreyfus, and said he had twice been briefed by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) and the Australian federal police, and had spoken with the Victorian police commissioner and home affairs boss.
The prime minister previously said the people responsible for the “shocking acts must face the full force of the law”.
Sarah Schwartz, executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, condemned the arson attack and said attacks on synagogues were “attacks on the entire Jewish community”, adding that the council stood in solidarity with those impacted.
“All people are entitled to practice their religion in safety, she told Guardian Australia on Sunday. She said the act of antisemitism had been “used for political gain, to smear the Palestine solidarity movement”.
“These responses fuel division. We urge politicians not to engage in knee-jerk responses, and to instead support grassroots efforts between communities to combat racism.”
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive, Alex Ryvchin, said the events were a “severe escalation” and that the antisemitism crisis was “getting worse”.
“Those who chant for death are not peace activists. Those who would burn houses of prayer with families inside do not seek an end to war. There is a violent ideology at work in our country that operates on the fringes of politics and social movements, that taps into anger and prejudice,” he said in a statement.
