Man charged over Melbourne synagogue fire amid calls for parliament to reconvene to pass new protest laws
Detectives from the Counter Terrorism Security Investigation Unit arrested the 34-year-old man, from the Sydney suburb of Toongabbie, in Melbourne's CBD about 8:15pm on Saturday.
It is alleged a man was seen walking through Parliament Gardens before entering the grounds of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation synagogue on Albert Street, pouring a flammable liquid on the front door and setting it alight.
There were about 20 people inside the synagogue at the time, taking part in Shabbat.
They fled through a rear door uninjured.
The NSW man has been charged with reckless conduct endangering life, reckless conduct endangering serious injury, criminal damage by fire, and possessing a controlled weapon.
He will appear before a bail and remand Court today.
Victoria Police said detectives would continue to examine the alleged intent and ideology of the accused to determine if the allegations were related to terrorism.
Detectives were yet to establish any links to two other incidents on Friday night — about 20 protesters entered the Jewish-owned Miznon restaurant in the CBD's popular Hardware Lane and shouted offensive chants, and three cars were set alight at a Greensborough business, in Melboure's north-east, in the early hours of Saturday morning.
On Saturday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhyahu released a statement saying he viewed the incidents in Melbourne on the weekend with "utmost gravity".
He described them as reprehensible and said antisemitism must be uprooted.
"The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community, and we demand that the Australian government take all action to deal with the rioters to the fullest extent of the law and prevent similar attacks in the future."
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the incidents were intolerable.
"Australian authorities must take all steps necessary to protect their Jewish citizens," he wrote on social media platform X.
"Antisemitism is a stain on any society, and must be confronted with urgency and resolve."
In December, the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripploea was destroyed by arsons in what police were treating as a terrorist attack.
"We're tired, we're angry and we're just shocked that [another fire] has happened again," Jewish Community Council of Victoria CEO Naomi Levin said.
"We've seen this happen in Victoria before. We've seen it happen around Australia.
"We just want to be left to practise our faith and to be part of our community. We just want to be left alone."
An angry Victorian Shadow Police Minister David Southwick was at the East Melbourne synagogue on Saturday.
"We were all down at Adass when it was firebombed and we had the prime minister, the premier, everyone rolling out and saying 'this is terrible, it should never happen again'," he said.
Following the Adass attack, the Victorian government unveiled broad plans to crack down on protester rights and bolster social cohesion.
The new measures are to include bans on the wearing of face masks and carrying flags of banned terrorist organisations.
But the legislation is yet to come before parliament.
"What is the government waiting for?" Mr Southwick asked angrily outside the East Melbourne synagogue.
"The government talked this big game about vilification laws and we've got to wait until September."
He said parliament should be immediately recalled to deal with the laws, but that they should go further and include giving police greater powers to move on protesters and arrest those who do not comply.
"Victorians deserve to feel safe. That's got to be the first job of any government," he said.
"The government has failed to do that."
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry said this weekend's incidents showed the antisemitism crisis continued.
"There is a violent ideology at work in our country that operates on the fringes of politics and social movements, that taps into anger and prejudice, and smirks as … proud, patriotic Australians experience fear in their own homes and their own streets," the council said.
"Those responsible cannot be reasoned with or appeased. They must be confronted with the full force of the law."
Police Minister Anthony Carbines said the government would not rush the new protest laws because it was focusing on getting the legislation right, including consulting with community organisations.
"Parliament resumes in July-August … it'll go to the cabinet and then it'll go to the parliament and as soon as the parliament passes those laws, they'll be in effect and I expect that to happen in the coming months," he said.
"That has the backing of the Jewish community and that will make sure that hate speech and those who think they can get away with it are further held to account."
He said Operation Park, which was established in late 2023 in response to an increase in hate crimes and to investigate offences associated with the Middle East conflict, had made 138 arrests
"There's no doubt there are people in the community who seek to divide, who think the law doesn't apply to them and who think they can target communities and threaten them."
Federal Shadow Attorney-General Julian Lesser said the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France had increased safety measures for their Jewish communities since tensions escalated in the Middle East.
"That prompted [federal Opposition Leader] Sussan Ley, [Shadow Home Affairs Minister] Andrew Hastie and myself three weeks ago to write to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling on him to take similar measures," Mr Lesser said.
"Prime Minister Albanese has never written back to us and we're calling on him to explain what measures he has taken to protect the Jewish community, and if he didn't take increased measures, why?"
Mr Albanese condemned the weekend incidents.
"It is completely unacceptable the attack that occurred at a restaurant in Melbourne, and also the attack on a business in the outer suburbs of Melbourne," Mr Albanese said.
"The fact that people were having a peaceful dinner and were disrupted by this act of violence could have had catastrophic consequences."
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