Jewish Leader’s Ex-Home Hit With Arson, Graffiti Attack

A burnt out car with anti-semitic graffiti is towed away in Dover Heights, Sydney, Australia on Jan. 17, 2025. AAP Image/Neve Brissendeni

The Jewish community in New South Wales (NSW) has been targeted by yet another antisemitic attack, despite the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.

In Sydney, cars were set alight and graffitied with antisemitic messages in the affluent Dover Heights, in the eastern suburbs of the city.

Residents told AAP that the home was previously owned by the Co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin.

Political leaders from both the centre-left Australian Labor Party and centre-right Liberal-National Coalition were quick to condemn the attack.

Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the incident was aimed at dividing the community, and said laws needed to be enforced.

“It’s causing fear, which is what it is aimed at, and it needs to be stamped out. And in my view, very strong view, there needs to be the strongest possible action,” he said on ABC Radio National.

Police Confirm Investigation

On Jan. 17, NSW Police confirmed they were investigating after multiple vehicles and a home were damaged overnight.

“Police were notified just before 4 a.m. this morning after a number of vehicles were located sprayed with graffiti, two vehicles were set alight, and a house was splashed with paint on Military Road, Dover Heights. Police have not received any reports of injury” police said in a statement.

Police said it was important that the community and police continued to work together to make NSW a safer place.

“The NSW Police Force takes hate crimes seriously and encourages anyone who is the victim of a hate crime of witnesses a hate crime to report the matter to police through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or through Triple Zero.”

Home Affairs Minister Launches Counter-Terrorism Initiative

The Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has launched a new counter-terrorism and violent extremism strategy.

The Labor government will invest $106.2 million over four years to deal with the issue.

“The historic threats we have always considered with respect to violent extremism and terrorism remain, but as the director general of ASIO Mike Burgess has made clear, increasingly we are also finding people who are younger [and] people who are radicalised faster and radicalised online,” he told reporters.

Premier Condemns Attack

NSW Premier Chris Minns condemned the actions and called them a form of racism.

“This is a disgusting and dangerous act of violence that is the latest example of a rising level of anti semitic attacks in our community,” he said on X.

“I’ll be getting an update from police this morning. We’ll be doing everything we can to catch these thugs.”

The Shadow Home Affairs spokesman James Paterson called it a “campaign of terror.”

“Every law enforcement and intelligence resource must be deployed to combat it. This will continue until the terrorists responsible are arrested, convicted, and jailed.”

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has received more than 124 reports of antisemitism, threats, and hatred towards the Jewish community. Of these reports, 102 are under investigation.

Reaction to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal

On Jan. 15, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal aimed at paving the way for the release of hostages, just days before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is supposed to take office.

The agreement stipulates that Israeli forces will withdraw from the Gaza border to enable displaced Palestinians to return home, while hostages and prisoners will be released from both sides.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Australia was monitoring the Gaza ceasefire situation very closely.

“This is a very important development. It’s got a lot of possibility, but we need the agreement to stick and that means that all sides need to adhere to the terms of the agreement,” Chalmers told the ABC.

“Too many innocent lives have already been lost, too much blood has already been shed and so we need this agreement to stick. It will be a nervous couple of days as we monitor the situation very closely.”

Chalmers, who is also responsible for Australia’s budget and finances, added the government wants to see enduring peace in the Middle East.

“We don’t want the announcements of the day before yesterday to be a sort of a glimmer of hope which is quickly dashed.

Albanese and Wong urged both sides to respect its terms and safeguard a lasting peace, including the release of all hostages.

On Jan. 17, Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham, who is retiring at the next federal election, expressed hope that all hostages would be released.

“How that ceasefire is achieved and what it achieves really does matter, and on this occasion, we hope to see it hold, because we hope to see not just the initial batch of hostages released, but all hostages,” he said on ABC Radio National.