By Jessica McSweeney and Sally Rawsthorne
A high-profile Jewish leader believes the suspected targeted attack on his former home is an act of terrorism and fears it is only a matter of time until someone is killed in Sydney.
Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said there is “an evil at work in this country” after the house in Dover Heights was targeted in an antisemitic attack on Friday morning. Two cars were firebombed and daubed with anti-Jewish slurs, and the house was splashed with red paint.
Alex Ryvchin and his wife Vicky at their former home on Friday. Credit: James Brickwood
Just hours after the incident, a defiant Ryvchin returned to the scene to survey the damage, telling reporters he believed the attack would “meet any modern standard of terrorism”.
“For them to hit this house, my former house, of all the houses in all the streets in this neighbourhood, would be one hell of a coincidence,” he said.
“When you have people in our society who are so consumed by wickedness and hatred that they would set fire to things, set fire to suburban streets, and risk the lives of everyone who lives here simply because they disagree with certain views or opinions, it shows that we’re in a very dangerous state, and it’s not a long step from what we’re seeing here to people being personally targeted and people being killed.”
Detectives spent the morning interviewing neighbours in Military Road and will now begin the painstaking task of combing through CCTV footage. NSW Police are investigating the matter as a hate crime.
Ryvchin is one of Australia’s leading Jewish voices and has been outspoken against antisemitism since the attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
“I was looking at the video, which was shot by the neighbours up the road, and I was looking at those images and seeing what was our beloved family home for many years, where we formed great memories with our kids, and it really hurt,” he said.
“I came to this country to find refuge from antisemitism. There are many people, including Holocaust survivors, who say to me they cease to recognise our country any more. It’s changing before our eyes.”
Premier vows to stamp out ‘barbaric, animalistic’ attacks
Premier Chris Minns said the government would do everything in its power to catch the “animals” responsible for what he labelled a “hate crime”.
“Honestly, I never thought I would see this kind of naked racism and antisemitism repeating itself on the streets of Sydney in such an organised, horrifying manner,” Minns said.
“The truth of the matter is that incidents of antisemitism, violent behaviour, are increasing in our community, and collectively ... we have to stand together to condemn it unambiguously and send a clear message to these animals that these actions will not be tolerated.
“I was struck by how resilient and strong and absolutely fortified [Ryvchin] is in his commitment to the cause that he’s been associated with, to his leadership position … and his resoluteness. I found it truly remarkable and a true insight into his character.”
Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said the “top priority” was cracking down on antisemitic attacks, and police stood ready to “pivot” resources if needed.
NSW Police have dedicated 20 detectives attached to Strike Force Pearl, including from the counterterrorism command, to investigate rising cases of antisemitic attacks in Sydney.
Police have so far arrested 179 people in connection with 452 offences as part of Operation Shelter – which was launched after the October 7 attack to address community tensions.
“Those people out there who are thinking about being involved in this sort of behaviour, we might not come knocking tomorrow, and it might not be the next day, but we will come knocking. You will be arrested, and you will be charged,” McKenna said.
The Dover Heights home was sold in 2022. The new owners are not Jewish, the Herald has been told.
Shocked residents wake to cars ‘exploding’
Military Road resident Shannon Lancour, 41, and her partner were startled awake by a loud bang.
“My boyfriend looked out the window and said he thought it was a fire. We ran to the balcony and the fire crew was just arriving. It was completely ablaze,” she told the Herald on Friday.
“I think we woke up to the sound of the gasoline tank exploding, but then we kept hearing pops and whistles. The flames just kept getting bigger. It took the fire crew 40 minutes to get it out,” she said.
“The more water they sprayed, the bigger the flames got.”
Lancour, who is not Jewish, said it was “absolutely heart-wrenching” to see the community targeted.
“We’re very friendly, everyone waves and smiles. It’s such a brilliant community, it’s a community full of love and acceptance,” she said.
Jewish leaders, politicians denounce attacks
Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said Sydney’s Jewish community was being targeted by masked criminals aiming to “menace and intimidate”.
“The hate-filled criminals who are perpetrating these crimes need to know that their campaign of domestic terrorism will not succeed,” he said. “The Jewish community is resilient, strong and unbowed and will continue to be so.”
The incident comes just a week after two hooded figures were captured on CCTV spraying slurs and swastikas on the Southern Sydney Synagogue at Allawah.
Since then, another synagogue in Newtown and a home and several cars in Queens Park have been vandalised with similar slurs.
Meanwhile, a western Sydney man could face up to a decade in prison for allegedly threatening to kill Jewish community leaders. The charges are the first laid by a federal operation announced after the firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne in December.
Operation Avalite targets “high-harm, recidivist antisemites”, AFP assistant commissioner Stephen Nutt said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the incident was an “outrage” that goes “against everything that we stand for”. In an interview on ABC Radio National, Albanese called for calm ahead of anticipated protests this weekend.
“What we need to do is to lower the temperature in the community,” Albanese said. “Australians want to see the conflict end, they want to see hostages released … they don’t want to see conflict brought here to Australia.”
NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said those responsible for the vandalism of Ryvchin’s former home deserve “swift, harsh punishment”.
“With a fragile Gaza ceasefire brokered just yesterday, it’s devastating to see yet another disgusting antisemitic attack early this morning, involving arson and vandalism, this time in Dover Heights,” Speakman said.
“Hatred has no place in our society.”
Wentworth MP Allegra Spender said she backed calls for a national cabinet on antisemitism and that more needed to be done to prevent attacks on the Jewish community.
“It’s not just an attack on the Jewish community, it’s an attack on what it means to be an Australian and what is great about this country.”
Ryvchin is the second Jewish leader to be the subject of antisemitic abuse.
Former Jewish Board of Deputies president Lesli Berger and his children returned home from holiday to find a swastika and antisemitic slurs graffitied on their Bellevue Hill home last month.
On Friday, police confirmed they were also investigating graffiti in Wiley Park.
Photos obtained by this masthead show a brick wall on Robertson Street with “F--- Arabs” and “Israel > Palestine” sprayed on it.
“The NSW Police force takes hate crimes seriously and encourages anyone who is a victim of hate crimes… to report this.”
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