The firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne has intensified a heated debate among Australian politicians.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the burnt-out synagogue on Tuesday, which police have described as a terrorist act.
While investigations continue, the incident has sparked broader conversations about anti-Semitic violence and rhetoric in Australia.
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On Wednesday morning’s episode of The Briefing, we spoke to Sarah Schwartz, a human rights lawyer and executive officer at the Jewish Council of Australia, and Alex Ryvchin, a writer and co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
Ms Schwartz voiced her concern about the attack, stating: “I think it impacts almost every Jewish person because we’ve all, at some point, attended synagogues. These are our places of worship, and it feels like an attack on the entire Jewish community.”
After the arson attack, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton also visited the site and described the incident as a “national disgrace.”
“The firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue is the sadly predictable outcome of Labor’s failure to heed the warnings of the Australian Jewish community and the Coalition,” Dutton said in a statement.
Mr Ryvchin noted that the increase in anti-Semitic behaviour cannot be attributed to a single factor.
“Even before October 7, my organisation reported a 40 per cent rise in anti-Semitic incidents. At the time, this surge was largely driven by growing far-right activity, which we’ve seen both globally and here in Australia.”
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