A group of Jewish teenagers chased through the streets by a driver allegedly yelling anti-Semitic abuse have been left shaken, as police search for two suspects.
The schoolboys were walking down Glen Eira Road at St Kilda East, in Melbourne's southeast, when they were approached by a white ute on Monday night.
CCTV footage shows the ute stop near the teenagers, who run across the street, before the vehicle pulls a U-turn and accelerates back towards them.
The teenagers, who had just left the nearby Adass Israel School, were easily identifiable as Orthodox Jews.
Victoria Police say they have identified two people over the terrifying ordeal.
"It's alleged the occupants of the vehicle yelled anti-Semitic abuse and then stopped a short distance away," police said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The victims ran across the road and the ute subsequently performed a U-turn and drove towards the victims."
Police said no one was injured and the vehicle drove from the scene.
The offenders were likely linked to a series of offending in the area, including aggravated burglaries and vehicle theft, police said.
The Jewish Community Council of Victoria alleged the boys were "physically and verbally threatened".
"The boys, who were outside a Jewish community and education centre, reported that the individuals in the car performed Nazi salutes, shouted Nazi slogans and followed them as they tried to reach a safe place," the council said on Tuesday.
The incident played out nearby to the Adass Israel Synagogue, which was firebombed in late 2024.
Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, described the incident as "anti-Semitic terror, pure and simple".
"Jewish teenagers running for their lives in Melbourne, hearing 'Heil Hitler' behind them is every Jewish parent's nightmare," Dr Abramovich told AAP.
"If Jewish teenagers can be hunted in the open, metres from a synagogue that was firebombed last year, then something in this country is very wrong and it is only getting worse.
"No parent should have to wonder whether their child will make it home because of who they are but that is the new normal for our community.
"If we don't crush this ticking time bomb now, the next chase won't end with boys escaping."
Premier Jacinta Allan said the alleged attack was hateful and had no place in Victoria.
"That salute is banned here in Victoria ... you can be prosecuted for that," she told reporters.
She flagged her government's previously announced plans to strengthen state anti-vilification laws following the Bondi terror attack when Victorian parliament returns in early February.
