Police claim progress but no closer to finding synagogue arson kingpin

Counter-terrorism detectives have sought to reassure the Jewish community they are closing in on those responsible for the arson attack that gutted Melbourne’s Adass Israel synagogue, despite police privately admitting the investigation has stalled.

Victoria Police acting Deputy Commissioner Chris Gilbert and federal police detectives attached to the joint counter-terrorism team investigating December’s firebombing met Adass Israel members on Wednesday and briefed them on what they claimed was a breakthrough in the case.

Joint counter-terrorism team detectives arrest a man suspected of stealing the car used in the Adass Israel synagogue firebombing.

The briefing took place on the same day police arrested a 20-year-old Williamstown man and charged him with stealing a car used by the arsonists on the night of the synagogue fire. The briefing was held hours before this masthead revealed the taskforce’s attempts to unmask the mastermind of the attack had “hit a wall”.

Police will allege the man was seen driving a stolen Volkswagen a few weeks before the same car was used in a series of arson attacks and other crime culminating in the torching of the ultra-Orthodox synagogue in Ripponlea on December 6.

The man, who was also charged with failing to provide police access to his phone, was not asked to enter a plea and was bailed to appear in court in three months.

Adass Israel board member Benjamin Klein (left) speaks to businessman Lindsay Fox outside the synagogue destroyed by fire.

A police source familiar with the taskforce investigation but not authorised to speak publicly about it said detectives had connected the car to the Adass Israel attack shortly after the firebombing but a decision was taken to track the vehicle in the hope of identifying the person or group ultimately responsible.

Adass Israel board member Benjamin Klein said police flagged the arrest at Wednesday’s briefing and told attendees it was “a very important piece of the puzzle”.

“From our conversations, they seem confident that things are progressing well and all hands are on deck,” Klein said. “They are hoping this arrest will lead to the next step, which is understanding who is behind it.”

On Thursday, acting Premier Jaclyn Symes said the arrest and laying of charges would “send a really strong and comforting message” that those responsible would be caught.

“It is positive progress to have made an arrest, and I know that the community will be relieved and grateful for the work of Victoria Police,” she said.

“I think a breakthrough such as this and getting to an arrest demonstrates that the investigation is at a critical point. I’m sure that once they have the ability to question who they’ve arrested, that there may be further arrests down the track.”

News of the arrest drew a more sceptical response from national peak Jewish representative body the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which noted a pattern was emerging in which police were able to identify street-level criminals but not the planners and funders of hate crimes against Jews.

“It is frustrating that whenever there is a violent antisemitic incident, police are able to find the small criminals at the end of the chain but not the masterminds,” executive council president Daniel Aghion said.

“There is clearly more going on, and no doubt the police are doing their best, but we are not getting to the people who are planning these attacks and arranging for them to be carried out,” he said. “Until we find those who are ultimately directing these violent crimes, we have no prospect of stopping them or delivering justice for the victims.”

Opposition police spokesman David Southwick said the problems hampering the investigation reflected a broader issue in police resourcing.

“Victoria Police are doing what they can, but it seems like the criminals are multiple steps ahead, using technology to avoid being caught,” he said.

“We’ve seen over 135 tobacco stores firebombed, gyms torched and even supermarkets targeted. The government has lost control of our streets to an organised underworld with money, power and a dangerous reach. This is not just a Jewish issue, this is a Victorian issue.”

On Thursday morning, a few hours before the joint counter-terrorism taskforce issued its statement with details of the arrest, this masthead reported that the use of encryption technology and thugs for hire by those responsible for the Adass Israel attack had thwarted the police investigation.

A second police source familiar with the investigation but not authorised to discuss it said the investigation had “hit a wall” and it remained unclear who had ordered the attack or why.

The investigation had identified people suspected of setting the fire, but they were violent criminals and street gang members with no known political or ideological affiliations.

There have been 11 arson attacks directed against Jewish targets in Melbourne and Sydney in the past year, including this month’s firebombing of the City Shul, Melbourne’s oldest ongoing synagogue.

Klein said his community was still working through its plans to build a new synagogue, and in the meantime had nowhere to congregate and celebrate significant events. “You have got a community that is really struggling,” he said.

The taskforce confirmed the same car driven by the arsonists was used to firebomb the Lux nightclub in South Yarra and an arson attack and shooting carried out in Bundoora on the same night as two unidentified men torched the Adass Israel synagogue in the early hours of the morning.

The joint counter-terrorism team said it was treating the Adass Israel attack as a suspected act of terrorism, but the other crimes did not appear to be politically motivated.

Klein said while the fire at Adass Israel appeared to have been lit by “some low-level guys who were hired to do this work”, the torching of any synagogue was a hate crime.

“It is not complicated. If you burn a shul or a synagogue you are clearly trying to attack Jews,” he said.

“They didn’t walk into a cafe or a barber shop. They burnt a synagogue which is the heart and jewel of a Jewish community who, still today, are very much traumatised and struggling with what has been lost.”

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