SYDNEY (Reuters) – A Sydney home previously owned by a senior Jewish community leader was vandalized on Friday morning and two cars were set on fire, one scrawled with anti-Semitic slurs, Australian authorities said.
The attack, the third attack on Sydney’s Jewish community in two months, took place at a property once owned by Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jews, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said.
“These are appalling anti-Semitic attacks … it’s truly disgusting,” Minns said during a news conference.
“While police cannot categorically say at this early stage of the investigation that the attack and the residence are connected, it is clear that it would be a major coincidence if they were not.”
Police said the house in suburban Dover (NYSE:) Heights was painted red. There are no reports of injuries.
Australia has seen a rise in anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents since Israel retaliated against Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023, with an attack on Gaza that killed tens of thousands of people.
A car was torched and two properties daubed with anti-Israel messages in Sydney last month, just days after an arson attack at a Melbourne synagogue is being investigated as terrorism.
The latest attack came two days after Israel and Hamas reached an agreement to end fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. However, the Israeli minister said he would resign from the government if the deal was approved.
Israel has postponed cabinet meetings to ratify the truce, and media reports say a vote could take place on Friday or Saturday, although the deal is expected to be approved.
