Police seek two masked men over ‘deliberately lit fire’ at Adass Israel Synagogue of Melbourne
Melbourne’s Jewish community is in shock after Adass Israel Synagogue was ‘deliberately’ set alight in what has been described as ‘another shocking escalation of hate’.
More than 60 firefighters have fought a blaze ignited after a suspected arson attack at a Melbourne synagogue early on Friday morning.
The fire began at Adass Israel Synagogue of Melbourne around 4.10am at Ripponlea in Melbourne’s southeast.
Victorian arson squad Detective Inspector Chris Murray said the “deliberately lit fire” was first caught by a witness who arrived at the synagogue to begin morning prayers.
“A witness who was attending morning prayers entered the synagogue, and upon entering has seen two individuals who were wearing masks, for want of a better word,” Det Insp Murray said.
“They appeared to be spreading an accelerant of some type inside the premises. This individual has left. Police were subsequently called to the premises, where the premises has been engulfed and has suffered extensive damage.
“We believe it was captured on CCTV. To what extent, we don’t know. That’s something we’ll undertake as it’s only early days at the moment. We haven’t been able to retrieve that but that’s certainly an avenue of inquiry we’ll look at.”
Synagogue board member Binyomin Klein told the Herald Sun two people in the synagogue were forced to flee after an accelerant was splashed into the building from outside.
“They saw people throw liquid inside and light it on fire,” Mr Klein said. “The two guys had to run out the back door … One of them got burns on his hands.”
He said the motive for the alleged attack remains unclear.
“This synagogue is one of the busiest in Australia … The synagogue is the centre of the community,” he said. “For the jewel in the crown to be burnt like that is horrendous.”
“This synagogue was built by Holocaust survivors and this just brings back terrible memories.”
Pure Antisemitism this morning in Melbourne, Australia, where two suspected arsonists smashed windows at 4.10am and burnt down the Adass Israel Synagogue.
— NomiKal (@NomiKal) December 5, 2024
Time for Australian police to take a zero tolerance approach to antisemitism.
Adass is a non-Zionist Haredi synagogue. pic.twitter.com/7ZxpTKJ83E
Yumi Friedman was the first person to call police as he witnessed the attack unfold from inside.
“I was studying in the synagogue and (heard) a big bang on the door with a sledge hammer… then I heard another sledge hammer (hit) the glass and saw the glass flying.
He was among dozens of congregation members who gathered outside the synagogue on Friday morning alongside other neighbours, police and firefighters, who pumped water from trucks inside the building.
Mr Friedman alleged two people wearing balaclavas and carrying Jerry cans initiated the attack.
“We’re just minding our own business, coming to pray and to learn and study, he said.
Arrest ‘first priority’
Det Insp Murray said the “first priority” of police was to secure an arrest.
“In my capacity as officer-in-charge of the arson squad, I’m here personally to provide some reassurance to the community that we are taking this absolutely seriously,” Det Insp Murray said.
“Our first and foremost priority is to identify those individuals that are responsible for this. We believe it was deliberate, we believe it has been targeted. What we don’t know is why. We’ll get to the why.
“We will do everything we can to bring these individuals before the courts.”
No one was injured during the incident, but the synagogue sustained significant damage, police said in a statement.
‘Outrage’: Albanese
Anthony Albanese said he had been briefed on the attack by the Australian Federal Police.
“I unequivocally condemn the attack on a Melbourne synagogue early this morning. I have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism. It has absolutely no place in Australia,” the Prime Minister said in a statement.
“This violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is an outrage. This attack has risked lives and is clearly aimed at creating fear in the community. The people involved must be caught and face the full force of the law.
“The Commonwealth will provide full assistance to Victorian authorities. This deliberate, unlawful attack goes against everything we are as Australians and everything we have worked so hard to build as a nation.”
Speaking to ABC Radio Melbourne, the Prime Minister said it was “a terrible morning to awake to this news which all Australians should unequivocally condemn”.
“This is a community that very much revolves around the synagogue. Many Holocaust survivors came from Hungary, in particular after World War II, and it’s been a centre of community activity. It’s a peaceful organisation and community and this attack is just an outrage.”
‘Air of uncertainty’: Dutton
Peter Dutton denounced the attack on the synagogue, condemning the firebombing as “absolutely abhorrent” and calling for Australia to “double down” on its support for the Jewish community.
“I want to pretend that this wasn’t expected or it couldn’t be predicted, but I can’t do that to the Australian people,” the Opposition leader told reporters in Kiama, pointing to the rise in anti-Semitism since the October 7 attacks in 2023.
“Everybody knew that anti-Semitism, that hatred and that vilification, that racism, was lurking beneath the surface, but what we’ve seen on our university campuses, what we’ve seen online, what we’ve seen against people of Jewish faith in the community, has been completely and utterly unacceptable.
“To see the firebombing of a synagogue, the place of worship, is something that is not welcome and has no place in our country whatsoever.”
Mr Dutton called for Anthony Albanese to give a “very detailed explanation” of the government’s stance on Israel, branding Labor’s current position on the Jewish state as a “complete departure” from its pre-election stance.
“The path that the Prime Minister Albanese has [taken] … I think it’s created an air of uncertainty and frankly, a lot of people in the Jewish community don’t only feel uncertain, they feel unsafe, and that’s something the Prime Minister should explain to the Australian public about,” he said.
‘Another shocking escalation’
Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler called the attack a brazen and unsurprising escalation of anti-Semitic violence.
“The firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne appears to be another shocking escalation of the hate that we have seen brazenly displayed on the streets of Melbourne every week for over a year,” Mr Leibler said in a statement.
“No one should be surprised; this violent attack is a direct consequence of words turning into actions. Jew-hatred, left unchecked, endangers all Australians.
“Enough is enough, this is a stain on our nation. It’s time for all levels of government to turn their words into actions to stamp out this Jew-hatred.”
Josh Burns recalls office attacks
Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns compared the attack of the synagogue to that on his office, saying those responsible must face the “full force of law”.
Mr Burns arrived at the scene on Friday morning to speak with members of his community.
“Addas is a very peaceful community. The people here are very proud and are proud of our country… This will rock them to the core,” he told The Australian.
“This is the centre of their life here and this synagogue is one of the most utilised synagogues anywhere in Melbourne. There’s people in there all day and this will really hurt.”
“I think this sort of attack – like what happened at my office – is so unfamiliar with the Australia that I grew up with and it’s so unfamiliar with the multicultural community that I love.
“Whoever is doing this is acting contrary to the multicultural and harmonious nature of our society. They need the full force of the law.”
‘Religiously motivated’
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman James Paterson also came to the scene, telling The Australian it was likely a religiously motivated attack.
“We’ve got to let police do their investigation but it does appear that it’s likely to be religiously motivated. It’s hard to think why someone would target a synagogue in this way for any other reason,” Mr Paterson said.
“That does make it a more serious crime. This is not a simple act of arson, this is arson of a religious centre, a place of worship and that is particularly an egregious thing.”
Mr Paterson also argued for a ban on protests at synagogues, while criticising the Albanese government’s alleged tolerance for anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence.
“It’s astonishing to me that anybody thinks that it’s a good idea to protest outside a synagogue or any other place of worship. It should not be tolerated in Australia that you can have a protest outside a synagogue,” Senator Paterson said at a press conference.
“When there are events like that, when there are no consequences for that, don’t be surprised when people are emboldened, they become more extreme, not less.”
Speaking in an interview afterwards, Senator Paterson accused the Albanese government of “ trying to balance its political interests against the national interest”, thereby crippling social cohesion.
“I think many in the community rightly feel they have been let down, both by governments and in instances by police, because behaviour has been tolerated in the country over the last year that none of us ever thought we should have had,” he said.
“Peter Dutton and I have been saying for more than a year, we want two things from the government. We want moral clarity about the crisis of anti-Semitism and the cancer that it poses to our society, and we want the law to be enforced.
“I think there has been weakness, I think there has been impotence, I think there has been caution, I think that the government has been trying to balance its political interests against the national interest and they’ve failed to call out the extremism we’ve experienced in this country and that has emboldened extremists even more than they otherwise would have been.”
Jewish community urged not to hide
Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion urged Jewish Australians not to recede from public view out of fear of future attacks.
“I would say this to the Australian Jewish community and the Melbourne Jewish Community: don’t hide away, a message to our community is be Jewish, the police will have the increased presence over this weekend at our synagogues here in Melbourne. We will be looked after by the police as best they can,” Mr Aghion said at a press conference.
“The Jewish Community has lived in fear for the last 14 months. This for us is just evidence of that fear.
“This is something that is the greatest manifestation of what we have been seeing and hearing in terms of threatening e-mails, threatening social media, threatening letters and all sorts of other material.”
He said two people had suffered minor injuries.
Contact Crime Stoppers
The suspected attack has shocked the large Jewish community in southeast Melbourne with members walking the streets discussing it with each other and expressing alarm that such a thing could happen in their own community.
One teenager told The Australian he feared it was an anti-Semitic attack which would strike greater fear in his community. One older man said he was surprised by the apparent attack because the area had been largely peaceful despite tensions cause in Australia by the war in Gaza.
The fire was brought under control within 30 minutes. The train level crossing at Glen Eira Rd remains blocked.
“An absolute travesty. This is the realisation of the worst fears of many in the Jewish community,” Opposition home affairs spokesperson James Paterson said on Twitter/X.
“The perpetrators must face the full force of the law.”
Melbourne, Australia - Adass Israel synagogue allegedly firebombed
— Menachem Vorchheimer (@MenachemV) December 5, 2024
Synagogue significantly damaged
Community outraged, view as an act of terrorism
â¦@3AW693â© â¦@australianâ© â¦@theheraldsunâ© â¦@2GB873â© â¦@theageâ© â¦@AlboMPâ© â¦@PeterDutton_MPâ© pic.twitter.com/THEEK9k5gK
Anyone who witnessed the incident, with dashcam/CCTV footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
Bipartisan support
Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley denounced the attack as an assault on Australia’s multiculturalism.
“I feel for the Jewish community today waking up to this news and let’s see what develops from it. It makes me feel quite sick to the stomach,” Ms Ley said to Channel 7.
“It feels like that harmony is being tested and I think Australians are anxious about a country where what we had so strongly in the past feels to be fraying at the edges.”
Education Minister Jason Clare agreed, appearing opposite Ms Ley.
“It’s pretty clear from … reporting this is no accident. This is a deliberate act of violence, an attack on a place of worship. Let’s call it out, there is no place for this in Australia. I hope that the police catch the perpetrators,” Mr Clare said.
“We’re a country made up of people from all around the world, all different religions living here in harmony. In that sense, we send a message to the rest of the world about what’s possible. This is the absolute opposite of what Australia is all about.”
Anti-Semitism compared to Nazi build-up
Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie compared attacks on religious sites to the escalation of anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany.
“The Holocaust didn’t start with Jews being herded into cattle trucks. It actually started with anti-Semitism becoming normalised on the streets of a modern and progressive Berlin,” Senator McKenzie said on ABC Radio National.
“Here we are in a modern, progressive society like Australia, and we’ve got school children being harassed on their way to school, jewish businesses being boycotted, and now Jewish places of worship being set alight.
“I think we all need to be very concerned about what’s occurring in our suburbs and our capital cities in the last 12 months, because the level of escalation is like nothing I’ve ever seen in my lifetime.
“It’s all great to get out there and protest, but democracy and freedoms are very precious and very fragile. And I think what we’re seeing here is very, very concerning.”
Attack linked to Australia’s UN vote divergence
Opposition foreign affairs spokesperson Simon Birmingham has linked the Albanese government’s divergence in UN voting patterns on Israel-Palestine affairs to today’s Ripponlea synagogue fire.
Appearing on Sky News, Senator Birmingham said the Prime Minister had “changed fundamentally” the interpretation of Australia’s role in instituting a two-state solution.
“Whilst none of us can know precisely what is behind this attack at this time, it certainly will play into the fears of those who worry as they drop their kids off at schools that require armed guards,” Senator Birmingham said.
“The Albanese government did break its word to Australia’s Jewish community. It said before the last election there was no difference between the parties of government in Australia, in reality after elected, even before October 7, they started changing some of Australia’s voting positions.
“It’s all very well for government ministers to say Australia’s always supported a two-state solution. But what’s changed fundamentally under the Albanese government are the terms that have been applied to that.
“This is a shocking and appalling incident and it really is the realisation of the worst fears for many in Australia’s Jewish community and they have seen since October 7 last year, that their community has sadly been the subject of all too many attacks, far too much vilification and with that it has tragically spurred this rise in anti-Semitism.”
Labor accused of neglect
Victorian Liberal MP David Southwick has accused the state and federal Labor governments of neglecting their duty to safeguard the Jewish community, pointing to the Adass synagogue attack as evidence.
“For over 12 months now the Jewish community has had to deal with targeted attacks, hate, incitement, anti-Semitism and unfortunately there has not been consequences and no one unfortunately would ever have expected that it would have got to this,” Mr Southwick said at a press conference.
“But I’ve got to say, we need more than words. We need action. We need action from all governments. We cannot have what’s happened here today happened to anybody of any faith, of any background.”
“Victoria has always been the great multicultural state. That is what we have been proud of. That is what we’ve always championed. But this today is an absolute disgrace. It’s a disgrace. Our community is broken, our community is shaken, and our community deserves action. No more words.
“The government should have the community’s back, not turn their backs on the community and that is what we have seen. It’s not good enough and the government must act and the government must act now.”
Labor frontbench reacts
The Labor frontbench came out in force today to denounce the attack on Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea, after facing criticism for the Albanese government’s increasingly pro-Palestine position.
“The attack on a synagogue in my home of Melbourne this morning is shocking and disgraceful. Antisemitism has no place in Australia,” Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said on Twitter/X.
Also on Twitter/X, he was echoed by Defence Minister Richard Marles.
“There is no place for anti-Semitism or violent behaviour in Australia. My thoughts are with the congregants in Ripponlea, and the Jewish community across Australia today following this appalling attack.
Kooyong MP Monique Ryan called it a “cowardly” attack.
“The cowardly arson against a Melbourne synagogue this morning was aimed at causing fear in the Jewish community,” Dr Ryan said. “I hope the perpetrators are caught and brought to justice immediately.”
“We all have to stand together against anti-Semitism in Australia.”
Finally, Greens leader Adam Bandt denounced the arson, while sharing his sympathies with the Jewish community.
“I’m thinking of all in Melbourne’s Jewish community after the shocking fire at the Adass Synagogue this morning,” he said.
“This is horrifying and unacceptable, and I’m thankful for the reports that no one was injured.”
Premier vows support
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has vowed to stand against anti-Semitism “now and forever” in the wake of the Adass synagogue arson attack in Ripponlea, pledging to “available resource will be deployed” to find the perpetrators.
This morning I spoke to Police Commissioner Shane Patton about this attack. Every available resource will be deployed to find these criminals who tried to tear a community apart,” Ms Allan said on Twitter/X.
“We stand with the Adass Israel congregation who are heartbroken.
“We stand with the entire Jewish community who have every right to go to shule, pray openly, and be proud of who they are – without fearing personal consequences.
“The Adass Israel Synagogue was built by Holocaust survivors. Like any place of worship in this state, it should be a refuge – a place of peace, prayer and safety.”
Lament for tolerance
Australian Multicultural Foundation executive director Hass Dellal has said the attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue runs contrary to Australia’s multicultural identity.
“The Australian Multicultural Foundation condemns the attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue. This is a distressing time for the members of the synagogue and the Jewish community more broadly.” Dr Dellal said in a statement.
“We are a multicultural and multifaith society where people have the right to practice and express their religion without fear of vilification or violence. This is not who we are as a multicultural nation.
“There is no place for such criminal behaviour and hatred towards innocent people and on a place of worship.
“There can be no tolerance of anti-Semitism nor for any other acts driven by hate towards any community.”
‘Growing threat’
Israeli Ambassador Amir Maimon said the arson attack on the Melbourne synagogue showed anti-Semitism was alive and well in Australia.
“I strongly condemn the attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne today, a heinous attack that serves as a chilling reminder that anti-Semitism is not a relic of the past, but the growing threat that demands immediate actions, not empty words,” he said at the Israeli Embassy today.
“Never again’ has become a hollow promise as the very evils it (aimed) to prevent are happening once more.”
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