Australia’s former treasurer has launched a scathing attack on the Albanese government’s “inaction” in dealing with rising anti-Semitism, as Sydney has been placed on high alert following the Melbourne attack.
Anti-Semitic graffiti appeared in Sydney earlier this week, with “Go to hell with Israel” graffitied on cars in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
A synagogue was then set alight.
The violence prompted NSW Premier Chris Minns to visit a Sydney synagogue on Friday night to denounce the attack as an “act of terrorism” and reassure the troubled Jewish community.
The rapid deterioration of social cohesion in the country has seen pressure on Anthony Albanese to follow NSW in describing the attack as “domestic terrorism” after one of his senior ministers suggested the same: “It’s a synagogue that burned down, not a milk bar.”
Australian Jewish Treasurer Josh Frydenberg under Morrison said the bombing of the Adas Israel synagogue in the early hours of Friday morning was “the latest in a long list of serious anti-Semitic attacks that have taken place on your watch” in an open letter to Albanese.
“Young Jews are now afraid to publicly identify with their faith while Holocaust survivors, who have long been given safe haven and warm embraces here in Australia, are speaking out,” he said.
“Mr Prime Minister, how did you allow things to come to this?”
Mr Frydenberg’s anger was mirrored by the head of Australia’s most prominent Jewish organisation, with Australian Jewry Executive Council President Alex Rivchin calling on the prime minister to “reflect on how things came to this”, describing the devastating attack as “entirely predictable”.
Rivchin asked Albanese how “a house of prayer was burned down” under his watch and how “decent Australians are now questioning whether they have a place in this country”.
The domestic fallout from the Gaza war has strained Australian-Israeli relations, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming that Australia’s recent foreign policy shift meant it was no longer a “major” ally of the Jewish state.
The country’s president, Isaac Herzog, described the latest attack as a “despicable act of terrorism” before revealing that he had spoken to Albanese to express his “strong condemnation” of the incident.
Liberal MP and Australian Jew Julian Lesser also described the attack as an act of “terrorism” – saying the authorities were failing Australia’s Jewish community if they did not pursue it as such.
Lesser said the firebombing of the Adas Israel synagogue on worshippers inside was an “act of terrorism” that met the definition of a crime under Australian law.
“You don’t attack a convenience store here, it’s a synagogue… To downplay this at a time when we’ve seen over a year of downplaying anti-Semitism in this country (would be wrong).”
“In my view, this is a terrorist attack and the authorities are not doing their job if they don’t pursue it as such.
“The police are doing their job at the moment and we have to let them do their job but this is not just a crime, it is designed to intimidate.”
Albanese revealed earlier on Friday that counter-terrorism police were involved in the investigation but stopped short of calling it a terror attack while Bill Shorten said it appeared to be an act of “domestic terrorism”.
Albanese condemned the violence unequivocally, describing it as “clearly an act of anti-Semitism and an attack on Australian values”.
“There are definitions and agencies are looking at these issues and certainly the Joint Counter Terrorism Task Force will be looking at this,” he said.
“Anti-Semitism is something that has been around for a long time, of course. Anti-Semitism is on the rise, we call it what we see it.”
During a heated press conference, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said police had not ruled out domestic terrorism.
In Sydney, Premier Minns said NSW Police would increase patrols and high-visibility duties around key locations.
“I was appalled to hear of the attack on the Adas Israel synagogue in Melbourne last night,” he said.
Means said the act was designed to be a “campaign of intimidation”.
Australia’s Special Envoy on Combating Anti-Semitism, Gillian Segal, welcomed Banizzi’s “clear acknowledgement and condemnation” of the attack, but called on the state and federal governments to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-Semitism into legislation to educate Australians about what constitutes anti-Semitism.

The IHRA definition has been strongly opposed by Palestinian advocates who say it will stifle legitimate criticism of Israeli government policies.

Editor’s view

I see that the Islamic councils in Australia have no voice, have not condemned this act of terror or declared themselves irresponsible for the incitement of clerics in mosques to incite hatred against ordinary Muslims.
I have not seen any comment from any Muslim politicians.
Perhaps they will delegate someone to condemn the terrorist incident in Hedon and the first thing he will announce is that this is not from Islam, because Islam is the religion of love, mercy and tolerance.
But I just want to ask an important question.
If this fire had taken place in a Muslim mosque, would it have passed simply?
Or would large crowds have demonstrated, violated, and burned cars and shops everywhere in the world half an hour after the fire?
And all the sheikhs in all the Islamic mosques in the world would have broadcast a hate speech against Jews and Christians, and the Arab media would have been bragging about the persecution of Muslims.
But look now, this was not an Islamic mosque, but a Jewish synagogue, so you find Muslims in silence.
And after a very short period, perhaps hours, Muslims all over the world will celebrate the burning of the Jewish synagogue.
I do not know what the position of the police and the FBI will be, will they be able to arrest the perpetrators of this terrorist act?
And will those who incited them and “brainwashed” them to carry out this terrorist act be arrested?
And will the punishment be a deterrent so that it is not repeated?
And I see that there is no more deterrent ruling than to cancel the citizenship of these terrorists and deport them to their countries so that any Muslim in Australia will fear that he will commit a hostile act against peaceful Jews.
Now you know why Israel will not back down from completely eliminating terrorism?
Wait for the results of terrorism soon.