Israel demands Australia ‘do more’ to fight anti-Semitism, PM vows ‘full force of the law’ after Melbourne anti-Jewish attacks
Israel’s Gideon Sa’ar demands Australia steps up efforts to combat surging anti-Semitism as Anthony Albanese pledges ‘all necessary support’ to find those behind separate incidents in Melbourne on Friday.
Israel’s foreign minister has demanded Labor do more to combat the “poisonous disease” of anti-Semitism after Friday’s attacks on Melbourne’s Jewish community.
Gideon Sa’ar on Saturday night AEST said Israel stood firmly with Australian Jews after a man tried to set the East Melbourne synagogue on fire while 20 people were inside having a Shabbat dinner.
In a separate incident, customers and staff at a CBD restaurant were left screaming as rioters tried to break in while chanting “death to the IDF.”
“I strongly condemn last night’s vile antisemitic attacks in Melbourne, including the arson attack on the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation synagogue and the targeted violence at the Israeli restaurant Miznon,” Mr Sa’ar wrote on X.
“There have been too many antisemitic attacks in Australia. The Australian government must do more to fight this poisonous disease.”
Mr Sa’ar’s comments came hours after Anthony Albanese called on anti-Semites who terrorised Melbourne’s Jewish community to face the “full force of the law”.
The Prime Minister has talked to Victorian police minister Anthony Carbines and been briefed by both ASIO and the federal police on Friday’s incidents.
I strongly condemn last night’s vile antisemitic attacks in Melbourne, including the arson attack on the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation synagogue and the targeted violence at the Israeli restaurant Miznon.
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) July 5, 2025
Israel stands firmly with the Jewish community in Australia.
There…
Mr Albanese said in a statement that the Commonwealth would do everything it could to help the Victorian state government and Victoria police to find justice.
“Anti-Semitism has no place in Australia,” Mr Albanese said.
“Those responsible for these shocking acts must face the full force of the law and my government will provide all necessary support toward this effort.”
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has called the attacks “abhorrent” and “evil”.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley also condemned the attacks, describing them as ‘horrifying’.
“This is not protest,” she wrote on social media platform X. “This is hate. And it has no place in Australia.”
Other leaders including former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Opposition legal affairs spokesman Julian Leeser and Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion called for more action and protection against rising anti-Semitism.
‘Hate crimes have spread in the heart of Australia’
Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel also weighed in, branding the firebombing attack on the synagogue and a targeted protest at the restaurant as acts of “terrorism”, and accused Australia of failing to confront the surge of violent anti-Semitism.
She said the attacks were not only assaults on the Jewish and Israeli communities, but a threat to Australia’s democratic values.
“The horrifying attacks overnight on a synagogue and an Israeli business in Melbourne are yet another reminder of how far racist, antisemitic hate crimes have spread in the heart of Australia,” Ms Haskel said in a statement to The Australian.
“Targeting Jewish houses of worship and an Israeli restaurant is terrorism, aimed at intimidating an entire community simply because of their religion and identity. These attacks are not just assaults on Jews or Israelis – they are assaults on Australian values of tolerance, diversity, and freedom.”
Ms Haskel said the Australian government had failed to implement “real consequences” for individuals and groups spreading anti-Semitic hate and inciting violence, warning the “weakness” would only embolden extremists.
“Let me be clear: these attacks are happening because, for too long, there have been no real consequences for those spreading hate and inciting violence. Weakness and silence only embolden the extremists,” she said.
Attacks investigated
In a terrifying night for Melbourne’s Jewish community, police say a man entered the grounds of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation on Albert St about 8pm and poured flammable liquid over the front door before setting it alight then fleeing on foot.
Friday’s arson comes months after the Adass Israel Synagogue at Ripponlea was firebombed.
Counter-terrorism police in June executed raids across Melbourne’s northern suburbs as part of its months-long probe into the potential terrorist attack.
Police are yet to determine the motivation for the attack on East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation synagogue but confirmed arson chemists and detectives are reviewing CCTV footage and investigating the possibility of a hate crime.
Online target
In a separate incident hours earlier, protesters wearing keffiyehs entered the Miznon – a well-known Israeli restaurant in Melbourne’s CBD – and staged a violent demonstration while chanting offensive slogans such as “death to the IDF”.
The restaurant franchise’s owner, Afik Miznon, declined to comment when The Australian approached him on Saturday.
Shahar Segal, the restaurant chain’s owner in Israel, came under attack from pro-Palestinian groups online, who accused him of having ties to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli aid body operating in Gaza.
In a widely shared post on Thursday, the group “northernnaarmaction4palestine” claimed Mr Segal served as a spokesperson for GHF, and accused the foundation of enabling Israel’s “assault on the Palestinian people”.
The post also criticised media outlet Broadsheet for promoting Miznon without referencing Mr Segal’s alleged ties to GHF, calling it an act of “cultural whitewashing”.
“Miznon Melbourne is a restaurant operated by Shahar Segal, who currently serves as a spokesperson for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – an entity widely condemned for its role in Israel’s ongoing assault on the Palestinian people,” the “northernnaarmaction4palestine” group wrote.
“You may know the GHF from the images and videos of dehumanising cages of people waiting for “aid”, or from the massacres committed at these so called aid sites.
“The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which Shahar Segal publicly represents, has been widely criticised by over 170 humanitarian organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam, and Amnesty International.”
‘Hate crime’: Frydenberg
Josh Frydenberg has called the alleged firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue a “hate crime”, that came after a Coalition of anti-Israel activists orchestrated an attack on a Jewish restaurant on Friday night.
The former Liberal treasurer, who spearheaded calls to label the firebombing of the Israel Adass Synagogue as a terrorist attack, said targeting a place of worship and Jewish restaurants was simply a hate crime.
“When you firebomb a synagogue with people inside & attack a local restaurant because it’s owned by Jews, it’s NOT about Israel, it’s NOT about protest, it’s a hate crime,” Mr Frydenberg wrote on X.
“Violent anti-Semitism is a threat to us all & until it’s called out for what it really is, it will continue!”
‘Very sad day’: Julian Leeser
Opposition legal affairs spokesman Julian Leeser said it was “a very sad day for Australia”.
“Yet again, a Jewish businesses has been attacked,” he said. “One of the oldest synagogues in Australia has been firebombed.”
Mr Leeser said the events were not just an attack on the Jewish community but “an attack on all Australians”.
“It sickens me that, yet again, the Jewish community is having to put up with these attacks and an increase in anti-Semitism,” he said.
Three weeks ago, Mr Leeser – along with Ms Ley and Opposition home affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie – wrote a letter to the Prime Minister calling for stronger security protections for Australia’s Jewish communities.
The leaders urged the government “to take similar steps” to provide extra protection to Australia’s Jewish community.
“The safety of law-abiding Australians needs to be the number one concern of the Australian Government,” they wrote, adding the government had a “clear responsibility to act, and to take all reasonable measures to protect the Jewish community from violence and threats of violence”.
But Mr Leeser said Anthony Albanese had not responded.
“We’re calling on him to explain what measures he has taken to protect the Jewish community,” he said.
‘Protection, not platitudes’
Victorian Liberal MP David Southwick said the Jewish community “deserves protection, not platitudes”.
“A second arson attack on a synagogue in Melbourne, this time on the Sabbath along with a Jewish restaurant in the CBD,” he said in a statement.
“The perpetrators and organisers must be found and brought to justice. My thoughts are with every members of the Jewish community affected by these vile attacks.”
“We cannot let these haters hijack our streets, our city, or our state. We must stand united against anti-Semitic violence.”
‘Unbroken and unbowed’
Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion described the attacks as “an attack upon Australians”.
Mr Aghion said he had been in contact with the congregation and rabbi at the East Melbourne Synagogue and was there on Saturday morning for their regular service.
He said congregants were “traumatised”.
“The community is understandably traumatised but they’re unbroken and unbowed,” Mr Aghion told The Australian.
The attack on the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation is the 10th firebombing incident on the Jewish community in 12 months, he said.
“Australia is becoming known for violent anti-Semitism,” he added.
“We’ve had more firebombing attacks than any other Jewish community in the world.”
Mr Aghion said he was concerned somebody would soon become severely injured as a consequence of a future attack.
“What I worry about and what keeps me awake at night, is that I won’t be speaking after somebody’s burnt the front door to a synagogue … but we’re talking about severe injuries or even death.”
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