A man has been charged after police allege he pretended to point a gun at a synagogue on Sydney’s north shore, as incidents of antisemitism continue in Sydney.
Police were called after a passenger inside a moving car allegedly made a gun gesture with his hand towards a man walking down Link Road in St Ives in the early hours of January 4.
Antisemitic graffiti seen in Queens Park in Sydney’s east.
Police allege the same passenger continued to travel down the same road, where he later made the same gesture towards a man at a synagogue. The second man also reported the incident to police.
After an investigation officers arrested a man at a North Turramurra home at 11pm on Monday. The 20-year-old was taken to Hornsby police station and charged with stalk or intimidate, intending fear of physical harm.
He was granted bail and will face Hornsby Local Court on January 29.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said the alleged incident was another example of rising anti-Jewish sentiment in Sydney.
“Yet another appalling incident that shows the levels of hatred felt towards our community and a willingness to publicly express it,” he said.
“Australia is experiencing an antisemitic moment which is now rolling into 2025. Until there are severe consequences in terms of both the law and social exclusion for anti-Jewish racists, this will get worse and worse.”
The charge comes after residents of Queens Park in Sydney’s east woke up to find a car graffitied with the phrase “f--- the Jews”. The suburb has a significant Jewish population and is near the Emanuel School.
Police are investigating the incident, and no arrests have yet been made.
“Antisemitism is a scourge and any event such as this targeting people because of who they are, is not the Australian values that I hold dear and the Australian values that are held dear,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a press conference on Monday.
Woollahra was targeted with a string of antisemitic vandalism incidents last year including against Matt Moran’s Chiswick restaurant.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Sydney’s east has been targeted in multiple antisemitic vandalism incidents, including in November last year when multiple buildings and cars were graffitied and a car set on fire. Two men remain before the courts over the incident.
In December, yet another car was set on fire in Woollahra which police allege was used to carry out more antisemitic vandalism.