A high-profile Jewish community leader fears a tide of anti-Semitism is escalating after his former family home was targeted in an early morning attack.
Residents in Dover Heights, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, woke to flaming cars defaced with anti-Jewish slurs and the splashing of red paint on the house in the early hours of Friday.
While the current residents are not Jewish, the home was previously owned by outspoken Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin.
Echoing NSW Premier Chris Minns, Mr Ryvchin said it would be "one hell of a coincidence" if he was not the target of the attack.
He feared the personal targeting of prominent Jewish leaders was a major escalation that could bring dire consequences.
"No one wakes up with surprise at this sort of news," he said.
"It's just a question of which target and how bad the damage, and I fear that we're going to wake up before long with someone dead.
"When you have people in our society so consumed by wickedness they would set fire to things, set fire to suburban streets, and risk the lives of everyone who lives here simply because they disagree with certain views or opinions, we're in a very dangerous state."
Mr Ryvchin said his wife woke him with the news, adding the personal nature of the attack "stung".
"To target someone's home, someone's sanctuary, someone's family, to endanger the lives of the good and decent Australians that live around here and light a fire when people are sleeping in their homes, there is an evil at work in this country," he said.
The premier spoke to Mr Ryvchin on Friday to express his sympathy.
"I was struck by how resilient and strong and absolutely fortified in his commitment to the cause that he has been associated with (he is)," Mr Minns said.
The latest incident follows an arson and graffiti attack on a synagogue in the inner-Sydney suburb of Newtown on Saturday, and the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue in December.
The apparently-targeted attack on Mr Ryvchin's former home marks the first time a Jewish community leader has been personally singled out amid simmering tensions over the war in Gaza.
There were no reports of injuries in the incident.
Dover Heights has the largest proportion of Jewish residents in NSW, with 48 per cent identifying as Jewish in the 2021 census.
Resident Laura Taitz said members of her community were waking up every morning with "their heart in their mouth" as they waited to learn about the latest incidents that had unfolded overnight.
"It's becoming untenable - it's relentless, we feel exhausted," she said.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said he was "profoundly disturbed and sickened to wake up to news of yet another anti-Semitic attack".
"The hate-filled criminals who are perpetrating these crimes need to know that their campaign of domestic terrorism will not succeed - the Jewish community is resilient, strong and unbowed and will continue to be so," he said.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton also branded the perpetrators terrorists.
Mr Minns stopped short of branding the attack terrorism, opting to wait for police to make the call.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said a terrorism designation was not currently under consideration, but if investigators needed additional powers that could change.
There are 20 detectives involved in a strike force investigating the Dover Heights attack and other recent anti-Semitic incidents in Sydney.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who is Jewish, said he was hopeful the scheduled ceasefire in Gaza could reduce community tensions in Australia.
