Sydney synagogue vandalized with phrase praising Hitler

The vandalism of the Sydney synagogue follows incidents of antisemitic graffiti on cars also in Sydney and an arson attack in Melbourne last month.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel

A synagogue in the Allawah suburb of Sydney was vandalized with the painted words “Hitler on top” and swastikas early on Friday, Reuters reports.

New South Wales State Police Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said at a news conference, “The people who do the sort of thing should realize we will be out in force to look for them; we will catch them and prosecute them.”

“(There is) no place in Australia, our tolerant multicultural community, for this sort of criminal activity,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a news conference.

The vandalism of the Sydney synagogue follows incidents of antisemitic graffiti on cars also in Sydney and an arson attack in Melbourne.

Following the Melbourne synagogue fire, Australia established a task force to deal with threats of violence and antisemitic incidents directed at the country’s Jewish community.

On Monday, an antisemitic slogan was found spray-painted on a car in the Queens Park neighborhood of eastern Sydney.

The offensive phrase, “F*** the Jews,” was scrawled in large black letters on the side of a white car.

While Queens Park is known for its significant Jewish community, the car’s owner, Stuart Veron, is not Jewish.

Veron described the vandalism as “madness” and “disgusting,” calling the perpetrator a “rat” and noting he felt “unlucky” his car had been targeted, according to ABC News.

“My neighbors—they’d be disgusted. There’s no place for this in this community or anywhere in Australia,” he said.

In December, worshippers fled in the early hours as flames engulfed the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne.

Witnesses told Sky News Australia that they saw masked men pouring petrol on the building before setting it on fire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne, Australia, must be seen in the context of the anti-Israeli policies of Australia’s Labor government.

“The burning of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne is an appalling act of antisemitism. I expect state authorities to take decisive action to prevent such acts from occurring again,” Netanyahu said.

“Sadly, this deplorable act cannot be viewed in isolation from the Labor government’s extreme anti-Israeli stance in Australia,” he added.