The Australian government’s support for a UN resolution calling for an end to Israel’s occupation of Gaza is to blame for a widely condemned arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue, the Jewish state’s prime minister says.
“It is impossible to separate the reprehensible arson attack from the federal government’s extreme anti-Israeli position,” the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, posted on social media early on Saturday.
Netanyahu said this included “the scandalous decision to support the UN resolution calling on Israel ‘to bring an end to its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as rapidly as possible’, and preventing a former Israeli minister from entering the country,” he wrote on X.
“The burning of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne is an abhorrent act of antisemitism,” he said.
The burning of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne is an abhorrent act of antisemitism. I expect the state authorities to use their full weight to prevent such antisemitic acts in the future.
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) December 6, 2024
Unfortunately, it is impossible to separate this reprehensible act from the extreme…
The Adass Israel synagogue at Ripponlea in Melbourne’s south-east had two of its three buildings gutted after suspected masked intruders allegedly broke into the building and set it alight in the early hours of Friday.
Two congregants preparing for morning prayers were inside. They were evacuated, with one sustaining minor injuries.
Police have not ruled out terrorism as a motive, believing the attack was targeted.
The suspects had poured accelerant on the floor inside the synagogue and set it on fire before fleeing when they were disturbed by a congregant, police said.
The shadow home affairs minister, James Patterson, said on Saturday that “Australia’s abandonment of Israel … is a disgrace, and it has harmed our national security, and it is not in our national interests.”
He added that relations between Australia and Israel had “never been at a lower ebb as they are today” and had been “absolutely trashed” by the Albanese government.
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president, Nasser Mashni, said Netanyahu’s comments were “a shameless distraction from his government’s crimes against humanity in Palestine.”
“The real extremism here is Israel’s ongoing genocide, apartheid, illegal occupation, and systematic brutality against Palestinians – not Australia’s support for international law”, he said on Saturday.
“A war criminal under investigation for genocide has no standing to lecture Australia on morality or justice.”
The international criminal court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.
Netanyahu’s social media post came after the Australian newspaper on Friday reported his office had criticised the government’s decision to support the UN motion, branding it as “disappointing”.
Speaking about that, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive, Peter Wertheim, said:
“Australia is so much more than the government of the day. We have been overwhelmed with messages of support for Israel from across Australia by people who share our view that the government is wrong on this issue. The people of Australia love freedom and democracy as much as Israelis do, and should always be regarded as a key ally by Israel even when the government lets us down.”
Also speaking on Friday, David Ossip, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies said:
“The Jewish community of Australia is absolutely desperate for some long overdue leadership from the Albanese Government.
“Instead of directing all of its energy to withdrawing support from Israel, it needs to finally address the domestic crisis of antisemitism which has festered on its watch.”
On Friday, Albanese condemned the arson attack, saying “this violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is an outrage”.
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said he firmly condemned the horrific arson amid an intolerable wave of attacks on Jewish communities when he spoke to Anthony Albanese on Friday night.
“I noted to the prime minister that this rise and the increasingly serious antisemitic attacks on the Jewish community required firm and strong action, and that this was a message that must be heard clearly from Australia’s leaders,” he said.
“I thanked him for his ongoing efforts to combat antisemitism, and expressed my trust that the local law enforcement would do everything in their power to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Political and religious leaders have widely condemned the attack on the synagogue, built by Holocaust survivors.
Albanese said he had no tolerance for antisemitism.
“This deliberate, unlawful attack goes against everything we are as Australians and everything we have worked so hard to build as a nation,” he said in a statement.
Australian federal police will provide all requested resources to Victorian authorities, he said.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said police patrols would be increased and pledged $100,000 to rebuilding the synagogue.
