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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan have condemned an arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne early this morning.
And police are searching for two suspects who were seen spreading accelerant with a broom inside the building, which was occupied at the time.
Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) said crews responded at 4.18am to multiple 000 (triple Zero) calls of a synagogue on fire on Glen Eira Road, Ripponlea.
The FRV say firefighters arrived to find the single-storey building engulfed in flame.
Crews had to wear breathing gear as a public alert for fire and smoke was issued for the area and a train level crossing on Glen Eira Road was closed.
The FRV said it took 30 minutes to bring the fire under control.
PM Albanese told ABC Melbourne that the attack is an outrage and anti-semitic.
“The violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is something that we should never see in Australia,” he says.
“It risks lives. It’s clearly aimed at creating fear in the community.”
Albanese confirmed he had spoken to local federal MP Josh Burns.
“He told me that this is a community that very much revolves around the synagogue. Many Holocaust survivors came from Hungary, in particular after World War II, and it’s been a centre of community activity.”
Albanese says he was briefed by AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw and that Victoria’s arson squad is leading investigations with the help of the Melbourne joint counter terrorism task force.
“… this is clearly an act of antisemitism … this is an act of hate and it’s something that should not occur in Australia or anywhere else for that matter,” he says.
“The Adass Israel Synagogue was built by Holocaust survivors,” Allan said.
“Like any place of worship in this state, it should be a refuge – a place of peace, prayer and safety.”
She promised that every available resource will be deployed to find the criminals.
“We stand with the Adass Israel congregation who are heartbroken,” she said.
“We stand with the entire Jewish community who have every right to go to shule, pray openly, and be proud of who they are – without fearing personal consequences.
In a statement posted online, the Australian Jewish Association said it was outraged but not surprised by the attack.
AJA CEO Robert Gregory claimed they had spent more than a year warning the Federal Government that it was fuelling anti-semitism after pro-Palestinian protestors took the streets in anger at the war in Gaza.
“There was an antisemitic protest outside Sydney’s Great Synagogue just this week,” he said.
MP Burns called the attack a “disgrace” in a post on social media.
“The sight of a burnt synagogue and shattered windows is reminiscent of the worst time in Jewish collective memory,” he said.
