Australia experienced a fourfold increase in documented antisemitic incidents in 2024—the steepest rise among English-speaking countries with available data.By JNSIsraeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar strongly condemned two “vile antisemitic attacks” in Melbourne on Friday—an arson attack on the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation synagogue and “targeted violence” at an Israeli restaurant named Miznon.“Israel stands firmly with the Jewish community in Australia,” Sa’ar posted on X. “There have been too many antisemitic attacks in Australia. The Australian government must do more to fight this poisonous disease.”Israel’s minister for Diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, called the incidents “a blazing red light.” He tied them to incitement heard last week at the Glastonbury music festival in the U.K.“Words chanted at music festivals: ‘Death to IDF soldiers’ become violent acts the next day. We’ve seen this movie before. We must not let it play again,” Chikli wrote on X.Victoria police said they were hunting an arsonist who set fire on Friday night to the Melbourne synagogue with some 20 people, including children, having Shabbat dinner inside.They said he had poured flammable liquid on the front door of the building and torched it before fleeing. They said everyone inside was able to evacuate from the back and no one was hurt.Melbourne, Australia: 3 antisemitic attacks in 24 hours.A synagogue was set on fire while 20 Jews were praying inside.An Israeli-owned restaurant was targeted by protesters.Jewish-owned cars were torched and vandalized with hate slogans.This isn’t 1938. This is 2025.The… pic.twitter.com/qPNmm5zhSu— Yossi BenYakar (@YossiBenYakar) July 5, 2025Fire crews were summoned to extinguish the blaze, which was contained to the front entrance. Victoria Police Commander Zorka Dunstan said, “This was clearly a targeted fire and we will not accept any acts of antisemitism or hate-based crime.”Police released a CCTV image of a man described as being of Caucasian descent and aged in his mid-30s. He has a beard and long hair and was seen wearing dark clothing.In a separate incident, a group of 20 protestors stormed and trashed an Israeli restaurant on Hardware Street in Melbourne’s central business district, the 9News website reported.Witnesses said the group was chanting “Death to the IDF” before it arrived at the restaurant, and diners were fearful as the group threw food and chairs at windows and knocked over tables.Police arrested a 28-year-old and later released him, as an investigation was opened to identify the offenders.Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin called the attacks “a severe escalation directed toward our community,” saying, “We urge all sides of politics and all Australians to condemn these deplorable crimes.”Ryvchin added, “Those who chant for death are not peace activists. Those who would burn houses of prayer with families inside do not seek an end to war. Those responsible cannot be reasoned with or appeased. They must be confronted with the full force of the law.”Australia experienced a fourfold increase in documented antisemitic incidents in 2024—the steepest rise among English-speaking countries with available data—according to the “J7 Annual Report on Antisemitism 2025.”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the torching of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne early on Dec. 6, 2024, suggesting that the antisemitic act was inextricably linked to the Labor government in Canberra’s “extreme anti-Israelism.”Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel posted on X a day after the latest Melbourne attacks, “The horrifying attacks overnight on a synagogue and an Israeli business in Melbourne are yet another reminder of how far racist, antisemitic hate crimes have spread in the heart of Australia.”She continued, “Targeting Jewish houses of worship and an Israeli restaurant is terrorism, aimed at intimidating an entire community simply because of their religion and identity. These attacks are not just assaults on Jews or Israelis —they are assaults on Australian values of tolerance, diversity and freedom.”Expressing her “full solidarity” with the Jewish community in Melbourne and all those impacted, Haskel said, “Israel stands with you.”She concluded, “Let me be clear: these attacks are happening because, for too long, there have been no real consequences for those spreading hate and inciting violence. Weakness and silence only embolden the extremists. There is no justification—ever—for violence and hatred directed at Jews, Israelis or any minority. The perpetrators of this terrorism must be brought to justice.”The post Israeli, Jewish leaders slam arson, restaurant attacks in Melbourne appeared first on World Israel News.