Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the Labor government of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday, saying its anti-Israel policies had led directly to an arson attack on a synagogue in Melbourne.
As Breitbart News reported, the synagogue was set ablaze during weekday prayers on Friday morning — with some worshippers inside the sanctuary.
More than 60 firefighters have fought a blaze ignited after a suspected arson attack at a Melbourne synagogue early on Friday morning. Latest: https://t.co/eWT9sXsSwJ pic.twitter.com/DpWVr7QWHN
— The Australian (@australian) December 5, 2024
Breitbart News noted:
Local media outlets confirmed people were inside at the time for morning prayers and they had reported seeing firebombs thrown by masked assailants. One person was injured and the fire caused extensive damage.
Synagogue board member Benjamin Klein told The Age newspaper worshippers “heard banging on the door and the window, and some liquids came through which were lit.”
…
Members of the congregation formed a human chain to remove religious items from the damaged synagogue, including Torah scrolls — one of which was brought to Australia from Germany in World War II, the Age newspaper further noted.
Netanyahu issued a furious statement linking the Australian government’s stance on Israel to the attack (translated from Hebrew by the Government Press Office):
The burning of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne is an abhorrent act of antisemitism. I expect the state authorities to use their full weight to prevent such antisemitic acts in the future.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to separate this reprehensible act from the extreme anti-Israeli position of the Labor government in Australia, including the scandalous decision to support the UN resolution calling on Israel “to bring an end to its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as rapidly as possible”, and preventing a former Israeli minister from entering the country.
Anti-Israel sentiment is antisemitism.
Australia’s United Nations vote earlier this week marked a profound shift in its foreign policy, in which it split from the United States and voted with the anti-Israel bloc. It backed a non-binding resolution in the General Assembly that calls on Israel to withdraw from, among other places, “East Jerusalem,” which is where the Jewish Quarter is located, and is the host of the holiest sites in the Jewish faith, as well as a Jewish presence dating back several millennia.
Australia prevented former Israeli justice minister Ayelet Shaked from entering the country earlier this year. Shaked is not accused of any crime or wrongdoing; she was barred simply because of her identity and past government role. The Jewish News Syndicate noted ironically at the time that is “a right-wing former politician who is ideologically to the left of several current cabinet ministers in Israel’s government.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
