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Australia Forms Anti-Hate Task Force After Synagogue Arson and Restaurant Attack Amid Surge in Antisemitism
Anti-Israel protesters in Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Matt Hrkac/Wikimedia Commons.
Australia is launching a new anti-hate task force after a synagogue in Melbourne was targeted in an arson attack Friday night while worshippers were inside, amid a surge in antisemitic incidents across the city.
Victoria state Premier Jacinta Allan announced that the newly established task force — made up of state and city officials including Victoria’s police minister and Melbourne’s mayor — will hold its first meeting this week, with Jewish community leaders invited to attend.
As the country faces a surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre across southern Israel, the Australian government is ramping up its security response.
As part of broader efforts to curb extremism, officials are looking for expert input while preparing legislation to ban face coverings, the public display of extremist symbols, and protest tools that hinder police enforcement.
“Just as the fire came to the front door here of this synagogue, it was stopped. So too must we put a stop to antisemitism,” Premier Allan told reporters Monday outside the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, where 20 worshippers escaped unharmed during the arson attack.
“Not only does it have no place here in Melbourne and Victoria, it has no place anywhere,” the Australian official declared.
On Saturday night, local authorities arrested a 34-year-old Sydney resident in connection with the Shabbat prayer attack, charging him with multiple offenses, including criminal damage by fire.
In a separate incident on Friday, a group of around 20 protesters stormed a Jewish-owned restaurant, Miznon, in Melbourne’s central business district, vandalizing the property while shouting antisemitic slurs and offensive slogans.
According to local reports, the group chanted, “Death to the IDF,” the Israel Defense Forces, as they approached the restaurant, leaving customers frightened as protesters threw food, smashed windows, and overturned tables.
Shortly after the incident, police took a 28-year-old man into custody but released him pending further investigation as they work to identify other suspects.
On Sunday, Israeli Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli sent a letter to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressing “deep alarm” over the two latest antisemitic attacks in Melbourne, warning they “are not isolated incidents” and calling for urgent action to address the growing threat of antisemitism.
“This alarming climate is unfolding under your government’s watch — and is further legitimized by recent decisions to deny entry to former Israeli Minister Ayelet Shaked and Israel advocate Hillel Fuld. These choices are seen as discriminatory and embolden those who spread hate,” Chikli wrote.
“This is no longer a matter of rising tensions — it is a test of moral leadership,” the Israeli cabinet minister continued. “When synagogues are burned and Jewish businesses attacked in central Melbourne, silence sends a dangerous message: that Jewish safety is negotiable. That message is unacceptable.”
My urgent letter to the PM of Australia, Anthony Albanese:
Subject: Government Inaction Amid Escalating Antisemitism in Australia.
Prime Minister,
I am writing out of deep alarm following a profoundly disturbing weekend in Melbourne.Within hours, two antisemitic attacks… pic.twitter.com/arzo9m4vaX
— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) July 6, 2025
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the two incidents in Melbourne as “reprehensible” and “severe hate crimes.”
“The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community, and we demand that the Australian government take all action to deal with the rioters to the fullest extent of the law and prevent similar attacks in the future,” Netanyahu said.
In a post on X, Israeli President Isaac Herzog also condemned the “vile arson attack” on Melbourne’s historic synagogue and the violent assault on an Israeli restaurant, urging authorities to ensure the safety of their Jewish citizens.
“It is intolerable that in 2025, we are still faced with the chilling image of an attempt to burn Jews alive as they pray, and attacks on Jewish businesses,” Herzog said. “This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last.”
“Australian authorities must take all steps necessary to protect their Jewish citizens. Antisemitism is a stain on any society, and must be confronted with urgency and resolve,” the Israeli leader continued.
I condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together. It is intolerable that in 2025, we are still faced with the chilling image of an…
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) July 5, 2025
The post Australia Forms Anti-Hate Task Force After Synagogue Arson and Restaurant Attack Amid Surge in Antisemitism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.