SYDNEY: Australia’s prime minister on Saturday condemned an arson attack on a busy city synagogue, saying it was a “cowardly” act of antisemitism.
Police are searching for a man who set the front door of a Melbourne synagogue ablaze on Friday night as around 20 people ate dinner inside.
The worshippers -- eating a meal in observation of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest -- escaped unscathed through the back of the synagogue before firefighters doused the blaze.
“Last night’s arson attack on the synagogue in east Melbourne is cowardly, is an act of violence and antisemitism, and has no place in Australian society,“ Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.
“It is to be hoped that the perpetrator is brought to justice urgently, and that he faces the full force of the law, and anyone involved in this attack faces the full force of the law.”
Victoria state police said they were investigating the “intent and ideology” of the perpetrator.
Jewish neighbourhoods in Melbourne and Sydney have in recent months been hit by a wave of antisemitic vandalism.
Masked arsonists firebombed a different Melbourne synagogue in December last year, prompting the government to create a federal task force targeting antisemitism.
