Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a National Cabinet meeting Tuesday and announced an antisemitic incident database to address the rise in antisemitism in the country following the Monday arson and vandalization of a Sydney suburb kindergarten.
The meeting called to the backdrop of demands for the assembly by Jewish groups, was held virtually to affirm that Australian leaders were working together "to address the shocking rise of antisemitic hate crimes."
At the meeting, Australian leaders agreed to create a National Database to track antisemitic crime and other antisemitic incidents and behaviors, in order to better inform and coordinate responses.
Albanese and New South Wales Premier Chris Minns visited the Only About Children Maroubra child care center, which had suffered extensive damage and was graffitied with offensive slogans according to the New South Wales Police Force said in a statement. Antisemitic slogans were scrawled at the site, local sources said, and there were signs of forced entry and the fire being started within the building.“Every act of antisemitism is an affront to who we are as Australians,” Albanese said on X of his visit. “The antisemitic attack here in Maroubra is as cowardly as it is disgusting.”
Intended target
The attack was described by Albanese as a hate crime targeting Australian Jews to engender fear among the community, though the kindergarten itself was not a Jewish facility. The kindergarten is around a hundred meters from the Maroubra Synagogue, and local sources suspected that the congregation’s child care programs may have been the intended target. Minns also suggested in a press briefing that the kindergarten was burned down “because it’s located next to a synagogue.”
“These antisemitic attacks are the opposite of the kind of country that we all want to live in,” said Minns.The Australian Jewish Association claimed on X Tuesday that the kindergarten had previously been owned by a Jewish family and was recently sold. An official police statement indicated that law enforcement was investigating the incident as a hate crime.A photograph published by Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Ryvchin appeared to display part of an antisemitic slogan that had been graffitied at recent antisemitic arson and vandalism incidents in the city.NSW deputy police commissioner Peter Thurtell said at a press briefing with Minns and Albanese that the Monday arson would be investigated by NSW police’s Strike Force Pearl, an ongoing operation investigating Sydney antisemitic incidents. Strike Force Pearl would have its resources increased in response to the incident, said Thurtell. NSW Police Force Commissioner Karen Webb said in a statement that the force’s manpower would be almost doubled with the allocation of 20 additional investigators. Webb said that the force would work tirelessly to arrest the culprits of the Monday arson, and that she had increased proactive operations around significant sites and places of worship across Sydney.“This boost in resources allocated to Strike Force Pearl reflects the seriousness of these crimes and the importance of putting those responsible before the courts as soon as possible,” said Webb.Minns said at the Tuesday briefing that he was considering legislative reforms to address the antisemitic vandalism. Albanese also promised to take strong action against antisemitic incidents at a Monday briefing, but didn’t commit to matching a party platform by opposition leader Peter Dutton to legislate six years mandatory jail time for attacks on a place of worship.Thurtell confirmed that Strike Force Pearl was investigating to see if there is a link between the spate of antisemitic incidents.Sydney has seen a wave of antisemitic arson and vandalism incidents, escalating in pace in recent weeks. In Dover Heights on Friday two cars were set on fire and multiple more graffitied with antisemitic slogans, including “f**k Jews.”The former home of Ryvchin was splashed with paint in the same incident. Last Saturday vandals graffitied and attempted to set alight the Newtown Synagogue. The day before, the Southern Synagogue was vandalized. A Queens Park home, five cars, and a trailer, were also defaced, with graffiti on the house again reading “f**k Jews.” On January 6 a car was graffitied in the same suburb with the words “F**k the Jews.”A 34-year old Liverpool woman was arrested by NSW police on Monday for her alleged involvement in a December 11 Woollahra area incident in which a vehicle was set afire in an antisemitic incident. The destroyed vehicle and another car, two buildings, and a footpath were vandalized with antisemitic graffiti. On Tuesday, she is set to face a court for charges including participating in a criminal group to contribute to criminal activity, and accessory before the fact to destroy or damage property. The NSW Jewish Board on Monday welcomed another arrest in response to the wave of vandalism. The police action followed the Thursday arrest of a 21-year-old man for involvement in a November 21 Woollahra arson that destroyed one car and damaged another. Nine other vehicles were also allegedly graffitied, as well as three buildings. Two other men had previously been arrested by Strike Force Pearl for the November vandalism, according to Albanese.Minns on Tuesday rejected suggestions that the government had lost control of the situation in the state, noting that nearly 180 individuals had been arrested since the October 7 Massacre. The government said that Strike Force Pearl had charged 36 people with antisemitic-related offenses.The National Cabinet was briefed Tuesday on the status of counter-antisemitism police operations, noting that the Australian Federal Police Avalite Special Operation Task Force received 166 reports, with 15 under investigation. On Thursday, the task force made its first arrest as part of the special operation launched in response to escalating antisemitism, with a Sydney area man was charged for allegedly making death threats to Jewish organization members.The Australian Federal Police Avalite Special Operation Task Force was formed on December 9 in the wake of the arson terrorist attack against Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue.Victoria’s Operation Park has reportedly made 70 arrests related to antisemitic incidents.Minns said that Only About Children would rebuild as soon as possible but were devastated by the attack. He and Albanese had spoken to a Maroubra Synagogue Rabbi Zalman Goldstein, who said that he was heartbroken and knew that Australians were against such behavior.The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies called the incident an “antisemitic firebombing” that was intended to harass and intimidate Jewish Australians as part of “a campaign of domestic terrorism.”“By targeting a childcare center, these depraved and cowardly terrorists are issuing another ominous threat against our community and every peace-loving Australian,” the board warned in a statement. “These terrorists must be urgently apprehended, or we will continue to see an escalation of these acts of terror.”Ryvchin said on social media that firebombing a childcare center “requires a depth of savagery that is difficult to imagine.”“Today, families will be having conversations about whether it’s safe to send their children to the places where they should be safest,” said Ryvchin. “Places of worship, homes, and now pre-schools have all been targeted by domestic terrorists. Antisemitism consumes everything. It is the disease that is destroying our country.”In response to the kindergarten fire, AJA charged on social media that the ruling Labor federal government was responsible for the rise in antisemitism in the country.“For the first time ever, Australia has a widespread, evil, out-of-control campaign of antisemitic violence,” said AJA.At a Monday press conference, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected remarks by Israel officials that antisemitic attacks in the country had been caused in part by the Australian government’s policies toward Israel.Albanese said that the country voted at the United Nations in line with 158 other states.“We voted for a ceasefire that is now in place,” said Albanese. “We wanted to see hostages released and I welcome the fact that today the hostages have begun to be released. And we voted in favor of aid for people in Gaza that is going to flow more freely. That’s what Australia put forward.”After the Tuesday meeting, the Albanese administration listed a series of programs and policies meant to address the rise in antisemitic incidents, including a January ban on Nazi symbols, allocating 57 million AUD since October 7 for Jewish site security measures, and a financial commitment in aiding the Adass Israel Synagogue and Only About Children Maroubra to rebuild.