Arsonist sets fire to door at Australian synagogue with worshippers inside; no injuries reported

An incendiary set fire to the door of a synagogue in Melbourne and forced the congregation to flee on Friday, seven months after the criminals destroyed a synagogue in the same Australian city with an accelerating fire that made an injured worshiper.

A man sprayed the double-sided doors of the Hebrew congregation of the city center of the East Melbourne and burned her around 8 p.m., announced on Saturday in a press release. About 20 worshipers sharing a meal to mark the Jewish day of the rest shabbat evacuated through a rear door and no one was injured, the police said.

The firefighters extinguished the fire, which was contained at the front entrance, said the police. The photos show damage to the entrance doors.

Police said the incendiary fire was seen walking in a nearby park before entering the synagogue field. After putting the fire, he fled the premises, said the police. It was not identified.

Victoria Prime Minister Jacinta Allan said that the previous incident and attack had been designed to “traumatize Jewish families”.

“Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hatred, and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of anti-Semitism,” she said in a statement.

Victoria’s acting police commander Zorka Dunstan described the fire as a serious crime. The Ministry’s Counter-Terrorism Safety Investigation Unit leads the investigation, said in a press release on Saturday, but the case “was not considered a terrorism incident”.

“I would like to understand very clearly that we recognize that these crimes are disgusting and odious. But at this point, we do not declare that a terrorist incident,” Dunstan told journalists.

“During our investigation, we will examine the intention and ideology of the people involved or the person to determine if this is in fact terrorism. For the moment, we classify them as a serious criminal incident and react accordingly,” she added.

A declaration of terrorism opens the investigation to higher resources and can lead to accusations which carry longer prison terms.

The president of the synagogue, Danny Segal, called the Australian community in the broad sense to stand with his congregation.

“We are here to be in peace, you know, we are here to make everyone live together and we have a new start in Australia, such a beautiful country, and what they are doing is simply not fair and not fair, and as australian, we have to get up and everyone should get up,” Segal told journalists.

Police says she is trying to speak to the man seen in the region

Victoria police have published a video surveillance image of a man whom they say they are interested in talking about the incident. They did not identify man as a suspect.

The unidentified man is described as in the mid -1930s, with a beard and long hair. He wore a dark or black blue sweater, black pants and a black cap. The video surveillance photo shows it with a large black bag.

Protesters harass guests in the Israeli restaurant

Friday evening, in the city center of Melbourne, around twenty masked demonstrators harassed guests in an Israeli restaurant. A Miznon restaurant window has been broken. A 28 -year -old woman was arrested for hampering the police.

The chairman of the anti-deficiency committee, Dvir Abramovich, one of the main opponents of anti-Semitism in Australia, said that the guests had been terrorized while the Sung group “Died at the IDF“Referring to Israeli defense forces.

“Melbourne, overnight, ceased to be a safe place for the Jews,” said Abramovich.

The mayor of Melbourne, Nicholas Reece, condemned both synagogue and restaurant incidents.

“These criminal acts against a synagogue in Melbourne and an Israeli company are absolutely shocking,” said Reece. “We all as a community should oppose.”

The vice-minister of foreign affairs of Israel, Sharren Haskel, condemned the attacks, claiming that it was “yet another recall of the measure in which the racist and anti-Semitic crimes of hatred have spread to the heart of Australia”, in a statement on X.

“Israel is with you,” added Haskel.

Victoria police said that her detectives were investigating if there are links between the restaurant incident and the synagogue fire. They also investigate a “criminal fire attack and criminal damage” to a company in Greensborough, a suburb of Melbourne.

Anti -Semitic and Islamaphobic attacks Roil Australia

A wave of anti -Semitic attacks has rocked Australia since October 7, 2023, the assault of Hamas against Israel sparked the war in Gaza.

Jewish and Muslim organizations and hatred researchers recorded drastic peaks in incidents fueled by hatred on the two groups. Last year, the Australian government appointed special envoys to combat anti -Semitism and Islamophobia in the community.

Last December, two masked men struck the Synagogue Adass Israel In the south-east of Melbourne. They caused significant damage by dividing a liquid accelerator with brooms throughout the building before lighting it. A worshiper has undergone minor burns.

No accusation was made for this attack, that Prime Minister Anthony Albanians blamed anti -Semitism.

The Victorian joint terrorism team, which includes Victoria’s state police, federal police and the main domestic spy agency in Australia, said the fire was probably a politically motivated attack.