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- Synagogue door set alight and restaurant stormed in latest antisemitic attacks in Australia</p>
<p>Angus Watson and Chris Lau, CNNJuly 5, 2025 at 12:30 AM</p>
<p>This screengrab taken from a video shows the aftermath of an arson attack on a synagogue in East Melbourne, Australia, on Friday, July 4, 2025. - Seven Network Australia</p>
<p>A man set the door of a synagogue alight and a group of protesters stormed an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne on Friday night, the latest in a wave of antisemitic attacks in Australian cities.</p>
<p>About 20 people were inside the synagogue in the downtown area of East Melbourne when a man poured flammable liquid on the front door of the synagogue on Albert Street before setting it on fire, Victoria state police said.</p>
<p>The group was having Shabbat dinner, marking the beginning of the Jewish day of rest, when the attack took place at 8 p.m. local time, Alex Ryvchin, the co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), wrote on X.</p>
<p>No one was injured and firefighters extinguished the small blaze, police said, adding that the perpetrator, who remains unidentified, fled the scene.</p>
<p>Just over 1 kilometer to the west on Hardware Lane – one of the city's most popular areas for restaurants and nightlife – about 20 protesters stormed into an Israeli restaurant, chanting slogans, police said. A 28-year-old was arrested for hindering police, and has been released on a summons.</p>
<p>The group was chanting "Death to the IDF" before arriving at the restaurant, CNN affiliate Nine News reported, citing witnesses.</p>
<p>Staff at the restaurant, Miznon – which launched in the Israeli commercial hub Tel Aviv in 2011 before opening a branch in Melbourne – acknowledged the incident when contacted by CNN.</p>
<p>Speaking at a press briefing, Acting Commander Zorka Dunstan of Victoria state police said officers were also investigating a third attack early Saturday morning in which three cars were set on fire near a business in the northeastern suburb of Greensborough.</p>
<p>Suspects spray-painted the cars and the walls of the buildings, she said, adding that the business has been targeted by pro-Palestine protesters in the past.</p>
<p>The security investigation unit, part of the counter-terrorism command, is investigating all the incidents, though police have yet to declare whether they constitute a terrorism incident, Dunstan said.</p>
<p>"We will examine the intent and the ideology of the persons or person involved," she said.</p>
<p>Many among Australia's 117,000-strong Jewish population are anxious after spate of antisemitic attacks in the country's two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, since late last year – including arson attacks on synagogues, and swastikas scrawled on buildings and cars.</p>
<p>The latest attacks drew condemnation from officials and community leaders on Saturday.</p>
<p>Denouncing the synagogue attack on X Saturday, Premier of Victoria Jacinta Allan said it was "designed to shatter…peace and traumatize Jewish families."</p>
<p>"That it happened on Shabbat makes it all the more abhorrent," she added, noting that children and women were among the people present at the venue.</p>
<p>"Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate, and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of anti-Semitism," she said.</p>
<p>Melbourne's Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece described the attack as "shocking," according to Nine News.</p>
<p>"I cannot condemn this sort of behavior in stronger terms… this is a city of peace and tolerance, and we will not stand for this," he said.</p>
<p>Ryvchin, from the ECAJ, urged the nation to condemn "these deplorable crimes."</p>
<p>"Those responsible cannot be reasoned with or appeased. They must be confronted with the full force of the law," he wrote on X.</p>
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