Cars torched, anti-Semitic messages sprayed in Dover Heights attack
The ex-owner of the home targeted in the latest anti-Semitism to rock Sydney has warned it won’t be long before a person is killed by a similar hate-fuelled attack, as CCTV of a car being torched in the attack emerges.
NSW
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The former owner of the home targeted in the latest violent bout of anti-Semitism to rock Sydney has warned it won’t be long before a person is killed by a similar hate-fuelled attack.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin sold the Dover Heights home three years ago.
Police are now investigating whether the attack was a case of mistaken identity, with Mr Ryvchin and his family the intended targets.
CCTV of the attack on the home early on Friday morning, where two cars were graffitied with anti-Semitic slurs then torched and red paint was thrown on the property’s walls, shows several shadowy figures walking past the cars parked outside the address.
The footage then shows the figures, dressed all in black, running from the property before both cars erupt in a large fireball.
On Friday afternoon, a sombre Mr Ryvchin told reporters the attack was evidence of “evil at work” in Australia.
“I can’t say with absolute certainty that the people who did this were targeting me and my family ... 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.
“There is evil at work in this country and we have to recognise that there are people who are consumed with hatred and they seek to burn people because they disagree with their words.”
In an address to the Jewish community, Mr Ryvchin’s message was clear: “Don’t be afraid, don’t allow the cowards who did this to win.”
Mr Ryvchin then implored the broader Australian public to speak up, warning that the nation’s reputation was changing on a global level.
“Our reputation as a peaceful multicultural society has gone to trash, our culture is shifting.
“We say ‘this can’t be normalised’ but when we wake up every day to another house being hit … that’s the norm”.
“I think we have to determine the full facts but if this was obviously done for violence as it is, and if it was done to advance some political ideology which I believe it is by the slogan by the door there, it meets any modern standard of terrorism.
“The people doing these acts over and over again are driven by hatred and extreme ideology and they’re targeting civilians in what they’re doing, so by my accounts they’re terrorists.”
Earlier on Friday, Premier Chris Minns called the people responsible for the anti-Semitic attacks in the eastern suburbs overnight “animals”.
The front of a home which previously belonged to a prominent Jewish leader was trashed with red paint, while anti-Semitic slurs were graffitied on nearby vehicles.
“Honestly I never thought I would see this kind of naked racism and anti-Semitism repeating itself on the streets of Sydney in such an organised, horrifying manner,” Mr Minns said.
“It is truly disgusting and against all of the ethos, all of the community sentiment about what living in Australia is all about, and I know that this shameful, violent, appalling behaviour is condemned by the vast majority of people that live in this state and live in this country.
“The truth of the matter is that incidents of anti-Semitism, violent behaviour are increasing in our community, and collectively as a community, as society, we have to stand together to condemn it unambiguously and send a clear message to these animals that these actions will not be tolerated.”
The Dover Heights home targeted in a vile anti-Semitic attack was formerly owned by a high-profile leader of the Jewish community.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin sold the home three years ago and has not lived there since.
Police are now probing whether the attack on the home was a case of mistaken identity, with the new owners having no links to the Jewish community.
Mr Ryvchin is one of the most prominent Jewish leaders in Australia, and has spoken out against anti-Semitism following the October 7 attacks.
The front of the home was trashed with red paint, while anti-Semitic slurs were graffitied on nearby vehicles and a van and a Mercedes Benz were torched in the driveway of the home.
David Ossip from the Jewish Board of Deputies labelled the incident an “act of domestic terrorism” issuing a pointed message to the attackers.
“No Australian should be concerned about the wellbeing of their property or their vehicles overnight,” he said.
“There is no room for hate in our community, and it’s time to call this out for what it is.
“This is a campaign of domestic terrorism which is targeting the Jewish community.
“It is intended to intimidate, harass and menace our community, and to these hate-filled culprits, these cowards who lurk at night behind masks, who want to intimidate and menace the Jewish community, who want us to be silent, our message is you will not succeed.”
Security tape from a neighbour first captured the suspected arsonists at 2.57am with the blaze ignited a short time later.
The neighbour, who has since handed the vision over to police, said she believes the cars had been burning for at least an hour before emergency services arrived, and described hearing “popping sounds” as the vehicles incinerated.
“It’s shocking how unbelievably silent it was that this was going on for a full hour before we woke up,” the woman said
“We could see through the flames the racial slurs and it was really frightening to realise this was a direct attack, and on such a peaceful and innocent family.”
“The flames were really big and it was horrible thinking how close the families were just behind those cars.”
Another shaken neighbour told the Telegraph they were frightened and shocked, with several Jewish families, and a rabbi living along the same road.
“It’s disgusting, I feel sick,” one woman said.
Eastern Suburbs police have launched an investigation with a spokesman saying it was important for the community and officers to work together to keep the state safe.
“The NSW Police Force takes hate crimes seriously and encourages anyone who is the victim of or witnesses a hate crime to report it,” a NSW Police spokesman said.
Firefighters called to the scene at 4am quickly extinguished the car fires before they could spread to nearby buildings.
“Crews arrived to find two vehicles on fire and a third damaged,” NSW Fire and Rescue Acting Superintendent Aaron Ross said.
“It was rapidly extinguished and didn’t spread to the adjacent property.”
Jewish local Laura Taitz was visibly shaken by the incident, and said she feared further escalation in her community.
Having lived in Sydney’s east for two decades, she said she had never felt more afraid than waking up to flames on Military Road this morning.
“Every morning, the Jewish community wakes up, holding their breath to look at their phone to see that what’s happened overnight. That’s every one of us,” she said.
“It’s become completely relentless, every day we’re waiting to see what attack has been made against our community. It is not random.
“I’m an immigrant to this country, 25 years, and I came here for a safe life.
“And today I can tell you, I feel more scared than the country I come from, which is South Africa, riddled by crime, riddled by violence and I continue today, I feel more scared then I did when I left South Africa.”
A neighbour who woke up to the sounds of the cars being torched confronted the flames with a garden hose prior to fire crews arriving.
The 85-year-old was woken by “a large noise” before seeing “flames as high as his balcony”, coming from his neighbour’s driveway, the man’s son said.
“He woke up, heard the noise, went to the garage got the hose and in his pyjamas tried to extinguish the car that’s blown up before the fire engines even get there, that take guts.
“To wake up and see flames as high as your balcony for an 85-year-old man that’s not pleasant.”
The man also said the Jewish community was being unfairly drawn into the Palestine Israel debate.
“There’s a strong concentration of Jewish people in this community and we just want to assimilate peacefully, we’re not going into other areas, giving lectures and bringing foreign hostilities with us ” he said
“Nobody wants to wake up to this, we want to stay under the rug, this isn’t about Gaza Palestine this is about an average family waking up and seeing your cars on fire and [slurs] painted on your neighbour’s house.”
On Friday morning a nearby resident arrived marching with the flag of Israel near where the incident occurred.
NSW Premier Chris Minns condemned the anti-Semitic attacks overnight as “flagrant racism” committed by “thugs”.
“This is a disgusting and dangerous act of violence that is the latest example of a rising level of anti Semitic attacks in our community,” he said.
“Civil society stands united in condemning this flagrant racism.
“We’ll be doing everything we can to catch these thugs.”
Police and Counter-terrorism Minister Yasmin Catley labelled the attacks a “despicable act of vandalism” on Friday morning.
“This disgusting act of hatred will not be tolerated,” she said.
“Police are doing everything they can to identify and arrest those responsible.
“There is no place for hatred or anti-Semitism in our society. Every person has the right to feel safe in their own city, their homes, and their places of worship.”
Speaking from Military Road on Friday morning, Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloane said it felt like “groundhog day”.
“It’s really sinister and it feels like a sustained campaign against this community,” she said.
“The criminals are becoming emboldened.
“It is happening every second day, every day, sometimes twice a day, it’s gotta stop.”
Ms Sloane praised the work of police, but said the courts needed to be heavy on punishment when it came to hate crimes and anti-Semitism.
“The judiciary needs to follow up and we need to see tough penalties, we need to see strong deterrence because enough is enough,” she said.
Opposition leader Mark Speakman said it was “devastating” to see the attack after a ceasefire was brokered in Gaza.
“With a fragile Gaza ceasefire brokered just yesterday, it’s devastating to see yet another disgusting anti-Semitic attack early this morning, involving arson and vandalism, this time in Dover Heights,” he said.
“Hatred has no place in our society. Those responsible deserve swift, harsh punishment.” Shadow Minister for Multiculturalism Mark Coure said the perpetrators “need to face the full strength of the law”.
“I am utterly disgusted to learn another deeply disturbing act of anti-Semitism in our community overnight. Such terrible behaviour has no place in our society,” Mr Coure said.
“These thugs need to face the full strength of the law. No one should feel unsafe simply because of their faith or identity.”
Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt has said that anyone engaging in anti-Semitic attacks should have the book thrown at them.
“Anti-Semitic behaviour is against Australian values, it is disgusting, it is abhorrent, it has got to stop,” he said.
Mr Watt said the federal government has appointed a special envoy against anti-Semitism.
“We have provided significant funding to Jewish schools and synagogues for increased protection,” Mr Watt added.
“We were the government that actually introduced and passed legislation to ban hate symbols and put in place very serious consequences.”
“I think it is a good thing we see the police using the powers they have been granted.”
There have been a number of anti-Semitic attacks in recent weeks.
On Monday, a wall near a footpath close to Sydenham train station in Sydney’s inner west was defaced with graffiti that read “Gas the Jews.”
Just days earlier, two synagogues in Sydney were subjected to anti-Semitic attacks.
CCTV footage released over the weekend captured individuals targeting synagogues in Newtown and Allawah within the past week.
Both buildings were spray-painted with swastikas, and a fire was set at the Newtown location.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the anti-Semitic attack on Sydney streets as “an outrage”.
“This latest attack is an outrage. It’s an attack on everything we stand for as Australians,” he said. “There is no place for anti-Semitism in Australia.
“It must stop and offenders must face the full force of the law.
“Yesterday we saw the first charges from AFP Special Operation Avalite I set up last month to crack down on anti-Semitism in the community – that is a good thing.”
He earlier this week revealed how he plans to tackle the rise in anti-Semitic incidents.
Mr Albanese met with Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, acting NSW Premier Penny Sharpe and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw following a bruising few months for the PM over his handling of the attacks in NSW and Victoria.
The three governments have worked together to try and locate the culprits of multiple alleged high-profile attacks at places of worship since the October 7 attack, including an arson attack a Melbourne synagogue late last year.
The Albanese government has implemented a raft of measures amid the rise in anti-Semitic incidents, including an AFP task force to “crack down on anti-Semitism, threats, and violence” directed at the Jewish community.
The taskforce, known as Operation Avalite, has received 124 reports since its inception, including 102 still under investigation, and joins legal reforms aimed at criminalising doxxing and banning the Nazi salute in early-2024.
The federal government last year appointed Australia’s first Special Envoy to Combat Anti-anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal, and has committed more than $50m to safety and security measures at Jewish sites, schools and synagogues.
Anyone with information about the Dover Heights incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000
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