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December 10, 2024
Evil firebombing of Melbourne synagogue is officially being treated as a terrorist attack as a new strategy is announced to battle the rise in anti-Semitism The "evil, anti-Semitic" firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue is being treated as a terrorist attack, with police hunting three suspects as a new special police taskforce is established to combat the exponential rise in anti-Semitism.
The political fallout from Friday's early-morning arson attack at Adass Israel Synagogue, in Ripponlea, is continuing to heat up, as the Albanese Government calls for unity while it stands accused by the Coalition of failing Jewish Australians on multiple fronts.
The peak body for Jewish Australians urged the Prime Minister to urgently adopt a suite of measures including calling an urgent National Cabinet to deal with the country's rising anti-Semitism crisis.
Congregants at the Melbourne synagogue were forced to flee shortly after 4am on Friday when the building went up in flames resulting in widespread damage in what Premier Jacinta Allan labelled "one of the most evil acts" of anti-Semitism Australia had ever seen.
A meeting of Victorian and Federal police on Monday determined that it was a "targeted" terrorist attack. They had reviewed evidence and intelligence over the weekend.
Victoria Police Commissioner Shane Patton confirmed three suspects were being pursued, and there was "no intelligence" to suggest another synagogue would be attacked.
"What concerns me is the callous nature of this attack, the involved nature of this attack, and the fact that the attack has taken place where it occurred," he said.
He conceded the attack caught authorities by surprise and said nothing had been "ruled in or out", including whether foreign actors were involved.
"The investigation is still very much in its early days. We will explore every avenue," he said.
"The timing of when this occurred, and all the environmental circumstances are factors that are all looked at. We consider everything in the investigation, and then determine what's relevant, what's evidence, what's intelligence, and sift through it." ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said it was conducting its own inquiries to "ensure there is no ongoing threat" of another attack but said at this stage there was no intelligence to suggest that was likely.
"Sadly, this appalling incident appears to embody the ugly dynamics that ASIO has been warning about. Politically motivated violence is now one of ASIO and this country's principal security concerns," he said, referring to the upgrading of Australia's terrorism threat level to "probable" earlier this year and his warning of attacks with no forewarning.
He stood alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who announced AFP taskforce Avalite had been established in response to three anti-Semitic attacks: the synagogue firebombing, an attack on Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns' electorate office and an incident in Woollahra in Sydney where a car was torched, and buildings were vandalised with anti-Israel messages.
"This will be the third taskforce that will work with State and Territory police forces," he said.
AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said the taskforce would give police expanded powers to investigate the incidents, and a "flying squad" would be deployed nationally to respond to incidents.
"(This) will be an agile and experienced squad of counterterrorism investigators who will focus on threats, violence and hatred towards the Australian Jewish community and parliamentarians," he said.
The announcement came after Peter Dutton, left, on Monday declared a Coalition Government would make anti-Semitism a priority, as he took aim at Mr Albanese for his "weak" and "inadequate" leadership on antiJew sentiment he said had led to the firebombing.
"A Dutton Coalition Government will act from day one to fix Labor's law enforcement crisis . . . and it will . . . say in a very clear voice ... that we will not tolerate racism of any description and we will not tolerate antiSemitism in any form," he said, before he visited the Ripponlea synagogue on Monday.
He said a Coalition Government would establish a taskforce led by the AFP, ASIO and other agencies that would be directed to refer visa holders involved in acts of anti-Semitism for immediate deportation.
He said he would also issue a ministerial direction to the AFP to prioritise addressing antiSemitism and give the peak Jewish body funding to spend on armed guards for synagogues and schools. Speaking outside the synagogue later, he said Australia needed to "make sure that the anti-Semitism that has now become commonplace in our society is repelled at every opportunity".
"We need to make sure that as a society we stand united with the Jewish community and let them know that we do not tolerate any act of anti-Semitism in our country," he said.
Labor has defended its track record in tackling anti-Semitism. Mr Burgess on Monday rejected suggestions the Government could be blamed for the synagogue attack.
"I think that's a hard call to put something on Government to stop people doing the wrong thing in our society," he said, and urged commentators to be cautious with their language.
Mr Albanese, who will visit the synagogue later this week, said his Government had taken strong action against anti-Semitism, including criminalising doxxing, appointing an envoy to combat the scourge, and giving the Executive Council of Australian Jewry $32.5 million to spend on upgrading security in the wake of Friday's attack.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry called on the Government to adopt another five urgent actions: support mandatory national anti-Semitism education in Australian schools, urgently convene a National Cabinet meeting, direct police to strictly enforce existing laws prohibiting harassment or intimidation by protesters, enact new legislation to require universities to protect the safety and security of students and staff, and "review the Government's rhetoric and public statements" on anti-Semitism and the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Coalition earlier attacked the Government for being unable to call out anti-Semitism without also mentioning Islamaphobia.
Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson said Mr Albanese had done it repeatedly.
There was no need to "balance communities' experience of racism against each other", he said.
"I mean it has often been the case over the last year when there's been a horrific act of anti-Semitism that the Prime Minister and his senior ministers have stood up and said, 'we condemn anti-Semitism and Islamophobia'," he told ABC.
"Both of those things are equally abhorrent, but they are not equally prevalent . . . and because the Prime Minister has been unable to call it out on its own when it happens, that has sent a very bad message to the Jewish community." A Dutton Coalition Government . . . will not tolerate racism of any description and we will not tolerate anti-Semitism in any form.