Melbourne synagogue firebombing: Building in ruins, Jewish community in pain and Anthony Albanese in trouble

It was always going to be awkward for Anthony Albanese to visit the firebombed synagogue. While leaders tried to plead with their followers not to heckle the PM, for some, their request was a bridge too far.

Anthony Albanese leaves the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne’s Ripponlea on Tuesday. Picture: AAP

It was always going to be awkward for Anthony Albanese to visit the firebombed Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne’s Ripponlea more than four days after it was the target of a terror attack.

With anger growing in the Jewish community about why it took the Prime Minister so long to visit the burnt-out prayer hall, the leaders of the ultra orthodox Adass tried to plead with their followers not to heckle Mr Albanese when he finally arrived.

But for some, their request was a bridge too far. Tensions have simmered in Melbourne’s Jewish heartland since the synagogue was torched last Friday. In shops, cafes and streets in the surrounding Jewish suburbs of Ripponlea, Elsternwick and Caulfield, the sense of disbelief about the synagogue attack has given way to anger towards both the federal and state Labor governments for not doing enough to stop the festering anti-Semitism in the city.

Each day since the fire, Jewish community members have stood outside their beloved synagogue to watch as prominent visitors arrive to pay their respects, from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, to former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni and Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon.

Each time, the locals have asked the visitors a simple question: Why did it have to come to this? A terror attack against Jews in the heart of Melbourne?

By Tuesday – four days on – when Mr Albanese finally arrived at what remains of the synagogue, not everyone was in the mood to welcome him.

The Prime Minister pushed his way through a large scrum of locals, Jewish leaders and media to express his condolences to the leaders of the Adass community. He inspected the flowers placed outside the synagogue before entering its burnt-out interior.

Emerging outside later, he pledged that Australia will never tolerate “evil crimes like this one”. “This arson attack is an act of terrorism that was fuelled by anti-Semitism, stoked by hatred,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr Albanese visits the Adass Israel Synagogue. Picture: Office of the PM

“We’re a country that needs to come together and unite. One of the things that we spoke about inside with the community leaders was the fact that people have come to Australia because we are a country that is peaceful.

“We are a country that respects people of different faiths and are enriched by our diversity here.”

But as he was speaking, you could hear the heckling from the back.

“Time to resign,” yelled one person.

“MIA,” yelled another.

“Off to Kooyong to play tennis, mate,” said another.

As Mr Albanese shuffled back through the crowd to the refuge of his car, one woman, Ann Drillich, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, pursued him about Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

“I wanted to ask you a question, Prime Minister,” she yelled just as Mr Albanese slipped into his car.

As the Prime Minister’s car drove away, Ms Drillich told The Australian she had wanted to ask him if he was going to rebuke Senator Wong about comments in which she placed Russia, China and Israel side by side when it comes to supposed violations of international law.

“What is he going to do to rein in the anti-Semitic statement of Penny Wong? That’s what I wanted to ask him,” Ms Drillich said.

“I’m a child of Holocaust survivors. I’m writing a book about my mother’s memoir.

“She survived the Holocaust but didn’t live because she committed suicide. I’m writing her memoir to teach people about anti-Semitism.

“And what has happened here (at the synagogue) is just terrible.”