Australia: Anti-Israel slogans sprayed on wall, car burnt

Authorities in the Australian city of Sydney said Wednesday they were looking for two people they believe were responsible for spray painting anti-Israel messages and setting a car alight in a suburb home to a long-established Jewish community.

The incident, which is being investigated as terrorism, comes after last week's arson attack on a synagogue in Melbourne.

What is known about the attack

The incident took place in the eastern suburb of Woollahra.

New South Wales police said they were called to an address in the suburb at 1 a.m. (1400 GMT/UTC) on Wednesday after reports that a car was burning in the street.

"This vehicle, along with another, two buildings and the footpath along Magney Street were graffitied," police said in a statement.

Police say they’re looking for two suspects — aged between 15 and 20 — who were spotted at the scene of the attack wearing face masks and dark clothing.

Australian PM expresses outrage

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the incident as an "outrage" and yet another "antisemitic attack" in a statement on social media platform X.

"I stand with the Jewish community and unequivocally condemn this attack. There is no place for hatred or antisemitism in our community," Albanese said.

"This isn't an attack on a government, this is an attack on people because they happen to be Jewish. That is what has occurred," Albanese went on to tell ABC Radio.

"The idea that we take a conflict overseas and bring it here is something that is quite contrary to what Australia was built on ... this is a hate crime, it's as simple as that."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently criticized the Australian government, citing an "anti-Israel spirit" of some of its policies and linking it to incidents such as the attack on the Melbourne synagogue. Netanyahu was referring to Canberra's support of a recent UN motion backing a Palestinian state.

Antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks on the rise

The latest incident came after authorities established a task force to investigate increasing instances of antisemitic crimes across the country.

Australia has seen a spike in both antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023, after Hamas-led militants launched a terror attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage.

The attack elicited a furious response from Israel and more than 44,000 people have so far been killed in Gaza, according to local authorities.

Earlier this month, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) released a report on "anti-Jewish incidents" that took place in Australia from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024.

The ECAJ said that there had been more than 2,000 anti-Jewish incidents reported by volunteer community groups and Jewish organizations during this time.

Meanwhile, Australia's SBS News cited the Islamophobia Register as saying that prior to 7 October last year, it had received an average of three reported incidents each week. This number had increased to nearly 18 a week in the aftermath of the October 7 attack.

kb/rmt (Reuters, AP)