Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday slammed the torching of a synagogue in Melbourne, Australia, and suggested that the antisemitic act was inextricably linked to the Labor government in Canberra’s “extreme anti-Israelism.”
“The burning of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne is an abhorrent act of antisemitism. I expect the state authorities to use their full weight to prevent such antisemitic acts in the future,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office.
“Unfortunately, it is impossible to separate this reprehensible act from the extreme anti-Israeli position of the Labor government in Australia, including the scandalous decision to support the U.N. resolution calling on Israel ‘to bring an end to its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as rapidly as possible,’ and preventing a former Israeli minister from entering the country.
“Anti-Israel sentiment is antisemitism,” the premier said.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, during which the former expressed his “firm condemnation” of the arson attack.
“Following the atrocities carried out by Hamas against Israel on and since October 7, 2023, there has been an intolerable wave of attacks on Jewish communities in Australia and around the world,” Herzog said.
“I noted to the Prime Minister [Albanese] that this rise and the increasingly serious antisemitic attacks on the Jewish community required firm and strong action, and that this was a message that must be heard clearly from Australia’s leaders. I thanked him for his ongoing efforts to combat antisemitism, and expressed my trust that the local law enforcement would do everything in their power to bring the perpetrators to justice,” added the president.
‘Petrol on the front of the synagogue’
The fire at the synagogue was reported at 4:10 a.m. local time Friday in the suburban area of Ripponlea, the Victoria Police Center told JNS.
According to the local authorities, Fire Rescue Victoria responded to a call of a synagogue on fire. “Firefighters arrived on scene to find the single-story, 30×20-meter building fully involved in fire. The response was escalated to a third alarm with crews wearing breathing apparatus attacking the fire,” they said.
Several men were inside the synagogue at the time. According to a report on Channel 7 Melbourne, the men heard banging at the door and when they went to answer it, saw two men standing there after having poured “petrol on the front of the synagogue and then lit it on fire.”
An investigation is underway, the Victoria Police Center told JNS; police are asking witnesses to provide dash cam footage or other information.
New research reveals the extent of Jew-hatred in Australia since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) released a report on Dec. 1, which showed that during the year following the Oct. 7 massacres, 2,062 anti-Jewish incidents were reported in Australia, up from 495 in the previous 12-month period.
Physical assaults shot up even higher—going from 11 in 2023 to 65 in 2024, a 491% increase.
In response to the report, Australia’s Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, head of the Liberal Party, said that “this is not just a Jewish issue—it is a national crisis, and it demands urgent action. Enough is enough.”
In July, anti-Israel activists vandalized the oldest synagogue in Sydney, displaying a large banner outside the front entrance reading “SANCTION ISRAEL,” along with PLO flags.
A month later, more than 500 students at the University of Sydney voted to reject a motion to condemn Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, drawing international criticism.
The only two pro-Israel speakers were heckled and ridiculed by the crowd, with one spat on by students.
Earlier this month, the Australian government declined to grant an entry visa to former Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who had planned to travel there to attend a pro-Israel event.
Shaked told Israel’s Channel 12 News that the decision was due to “the anti-Israel and radically pro-Palestinian” policies of the current Australian government, which has been led by the left-wing Labor Party since 2022.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in April that Canberra would consider recognition of a Palestinian state. Her government has walked back the decision by the previous Liberal Party government to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
