A car has been set alight and two properties spray painted with anti-Israel messages in Sydney just days after an arson attack at a synagogue in Melbourne which is being investigated as terrorism, Reuters quotes Australian authorities as saying.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the latest attack, the second targeting the Jewish community in the Sydney suburb in three weeks, was an “outrage” and he would be briefed on it soon by a new anti-Semitism task force.
“This is an attack on people because they happen to be Jewish,” Albanese told ABC Radio. “The idea that we take a conflict overseas and bring it here is something that is quite contrary to what Australia was built on … this is a hate crime, it’s as simple as that.”
The New South Wales state police said two people wearing face coverings and dark clothing were spotted near the area when the car caught fire in the eastern suburb of Woollahra, an area with a large Jewish population.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said the incident would be treated as “a wanton act of vandalism”, with offenders facing up to 10 years in jail.
