Arsonists Set Fire to Melbourne Synagogue

Australia|Arsonists Set Fire to Melbourne Synagogue

The police in Australia are looking for several people who they believe intentionally set fire to a synagogue in a suburb of Melbourne on Friday morning.

Two witnesses who arrived at the Adass Israel synagogue early in the morning told police officers that they saw two people wearing masks pouring a liquid accelerant on the floor inside the building. The suspected arsonists fled when they noticed one of the congregants, the authorities said.

Emergency services were called to the synagogue just after 4 a.m. local time. Nobody else was inside at the time of the fire, which occurred a little over an hour before a planned morning service at the synagogue, the police said.

The authorities said they were looking for three people believed to be involved.

The blaze caused significant damage to the building, and one congregant sustained a minor injury on his hand, the police said. Investigators were “working to establish the exact circumstances of the fire, and at this stage believe it was a targeted incident,” the police said.

Chris Murray, the officer in charge of the arson and explosives squad at Victoria Police, said at a news conference that the arsonists would be held to account to ensure that congregants could return to their local synagogue and do “what is absolutely Australian, that is to be able to worship without fear.”

In a statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “I have zero tolerance for antisemitism. It has absolutely no place in Australia.”

“This violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is an outrage,” he added.

Jacinta Allen, the top official for the state of Victoria, said the government could “absolutely identify that this is an act of antisemitism.”

Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza, Australia has recorded a flurry of incidents targeting Jews and Muslims, and increasing tensions between members of the faiths.