Australian police launch special operation over increased antisemitic attacks
Several incidents have taken place in Sydney and Melbourne this year.
Australian federal police have launched a special operation to investigate an increase in antisemitic threats and violence since the war between Israel and Hamas began last year.
Jewish leaders say prejudice against their community has reached unprecedented levels, with most incidents reported in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s largest cities, where 85% of the nation’s Jewish population live.
Almost 117,000 Jewish people live in Australia, according to the last census in 2021, or 0.46% of the 25.4 million residents. The government says only Israel is home to more Holocaust survivors than Australia on a per capita basis.
Here is a look at some of the main cases investigated by Special Operation Avalite:
June 19: Jewish legislator’s office in a Melbourne suburb vandalised
At least five people were seen near Jewish legislator Josh Burns’ office in Barkly Street at about 3.20am when the attack occurred, police said.
They smashed windows and left graffiti on the outside of his office in red paint, reading: “Zionism is fascism”.
Investigators said small fires were lit in the telecommunications pits at the front of the building before the group ran from the scene.
Mr Burns, a government legislator, said at the time that “no amount of aggression” would “change what’s happening in the Middle East.”
November 21: Antisemitic acts in Wellington Street, Woollahra
Police arrested two suspects who allegedly launched an hour-long rampage of anti-Israel destruction in Woollahra.
Police were alerted to a car fire in Wellington Street around 12.30am. Two men with their faces covered were seen in CCTV spray-painting expletives and slogans referring to Israel on 10 cars in the vicinity of Wellington Street, including the car that was burned.
They also graffitied three buildings including a restaurant owned by celebrity chef Matt Moran, who is not Jewish.
Mohammed Farhat, 20, was arrested on November 25 at Sydney International Airport as he prepared to fly to Indonesia. His alleged accomplice Thomas Stojanovski, 19, was arrested at his home on November 28.
Both remain in custody awaiting trial on multiple charges. They each face prison sentences of up to 10 years.
– December 6: Arson attack on Adass Israel Synagogue in south-eastern Melbourne suburb
The December 6 attack has been declared a terrorist act after authorities concluded there was a political motive. Police are searching for three suspects.
Two worshippers saw two men with their faces covered spreading a liquid accelerant around the building before it ignited.
Police have not said what role the third person played or whether they knew the suspects’ identities.
– December 11: Antisemitic graffiti attacks in the eastern Sydney suburb of Woollahra
Police are looking for two male suspects, estimated to be aged between 15 and 20, seen running from Magney Street in Woollahra when a car fire was reported at 1am.
Graffiti had been daubed on two cars, including the one that burned. Two homes and the sidewalk had also been spray-painted with what police described as “antisemitic writing” that included an apparently mis-spelled “Kill Israiel”.
Woollahra is a centre of Jewish life in Sydney and one of the wealthiest suburbs in the nation.
Not everyone who lives in Magney Street is Jewish, and police say there is no evidence that Jewish residents were specifically targeted.
