Published: 6 December 2024
Last updated: 6 December 2024
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has issued a statement describing a fire at Melbourne's Adass Israel synagogue in the early hours of this morning as a "deliberate, unlawful attack".
The Prime Minister's statement implied the synagogue was attacked as an intentional antisemitic act. Fire Rescue Victoria and Victoria Police are treating the fire as suspicious.
Fire broke at at the synagogue in Ripponlea at about 4am on Friday, injuring at least two men. it is understood the men were treated for burns and smoke inhalation.
Witnesses told media that two men broke into the synagogue through a glass window and were seen setting fire to flammable material inside. Congregants were already gathered for early morning service when the attack occurred.
Neighbours called triple zero and fire crews arrived to find the entire single-storey building alight.
We hoped it would never come to this, but today, our fears have been realised
JCCV CEO Naomi Levin
Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) CEO Naomi Levin the attack was exactly the kind of incident that Australian Jews have been warning could occur in the face of a dramatically increasing number of antisemitic incidents over the past year.
"We were absolutely shocked, but not surprised, to hear that a synagogue here in Melbourne had been attacked overnight. The Jewish community has been warning about an unacceptable rise in antisemitism for more than a year. We hoped it would never come to this, but today, our fears have been realised."
Opposition leader Peter Dutton also emphasised the predictability of the attack given rising antisemitism.
“I want to pretend this wasn’t expected and it couldn’t be predicted, but I can’t do that to the Australian people,” he told a media conference in NSW.
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