A rabbi’s car bearing a Chanukah decoration on its roof was set ablaze in Melbourne early Thursday morning in what is believed to be a targeted, antisemitic attack.
The Christmas morning firebombing followed the Sydney Chanukah mass shooting 11 days ago that killed 15 people and wounded dozens in the most lethal assault on Jews since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-terrorist led massacre.
There were no injuries reported in the 2:30 a.m. arson in the Victoria state capital neighborhood of St. Kilda East. The occupants of a nearby house were evacuated as a precaution.
The Australian Jewish Association issued a statement immediately afterwards despairing, “Jewish families, like all Australians, should not have to go to sleep at night wondering whether their car or home will be attacked.”
The unoccupied car had a mobile billboard reading “Happy Chanukah!” mounted on its roof.
Chanukah, also spelled Hanukkah, is the name for the eight-day Jewish festival of lights.
Rabbi Effy Block, from the Chabad of St Kilda, told the ABC he had been in contact with the affected family, which included another rabbi.
“They are OK, but the car is destroyed,” he said.
About lunchtime, police confirmed they had identified “a person who may be able to assist with their investigation”.
Detectives are trying to find that person at a time Australia’s left-wing Labor government in Canberra is being increasingly called out for its confused response to threats to the local Jewish Australians.
Leftist Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s inability to counter rising antisemitism is also being publicly challenged.
Local member of parliament, MP David Southwick, whose electorate encompasses St Kilda East, said he believed it was not a coincidence the arson had occurred in the heart of Melbourne’s Jewish community.
“Carlisle Street is our Bondi, it’s across the road from one of our Jewish day schools, it’s literally 100 metres from the Bagel Belt of Melbourne,” he said.
“The car that was targeted and the family that was targeted was a Jewish family with a Jewish symbol on the vehicle.”
Last year arsonists extensively damaged a Melbourne synagogue in what was condemned as a direct antisemitic attack.
The blaze in the Adass Israel Synagogue was seen as an escalation in targeted attacks in Australia since the war began between Israel and Hamas after the terrorist organization embarked on a murderous rampage in the Jewish state.
Cars and buildings have been vandalized and torched around Australia in protests inspired by the war.
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