Nazi swastikas have been scrawled across a Sydney synagogue in another episode of antisemitism, horrifying the Jewish community.
The attack on the Southern Sydney Synagogue, in Allawah in NSW premier Chris Minns’ electorate of Kogarah, was committed by “bastards … with hate in their hearts” determined to divide the community, the premier said.
“It’s a monstrous act,” Minns told reporters on Friday.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese said the criminals responsible needed to be tracked down.
“There is no place in Australia, our tolerant multicultural community, for this sort of criminal activity,” he said.
Police launched an investigation into the offensive graffiti, which they believed occurred between 3.55am and 4.30am on Friday.
It followed other antisemitic attacks across Sydney in recent months, including Monday’s vandalism of a car in the city’s east.
In December, the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was destroyed by arson in an attack condemned by Albanese and other leaders. Those responsible were still at large.
About 100,000 Jewish people live in Australia, with large congregations in Melbourne and Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Minns underlined his local community’s love for the Southern Sydney Synagogue and said he had spoken with its president on Friday morning.
The president was appalled by the graffiti but understood it did not represent the community, he said.
“The painting of a swastika on a Jewish building shows you everything you need to know about how appalling these particular individuals are and what their ultimate aim is,” Minns said.
Jewish leaders called for the swift arrest of those “defacing houses of worship with the symbol of genocide”.
“We’re also calling on our fellow Australians, particularly those in positions of influence across society, to end the silence and publicly denounce this behaviour as repugnant to our national values and a threat to us all,” Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said: “No Australian should have to wake up every morning filled with apprehension about whether or not there’s been another antisemitic hate crime overnight.”
The board of deputies reiterated its call for hate speech and incitement to violence laws to be tightened to ensure such conduct was not normalised.
A review sparked by similar calls in 2024 found several unintended consequences could flow from expanding incitement laws.
The nine-month review by former supreme court chief justice Tom Bathurst warned that using criminal law to curb public incitement of hatred or boost social cohesion could stifle free expression, open debate and freedom of religion.
Separately, on Tuesday, NSW police laid a charge of intimidation with intent to cause fear of personal harm against a 20-year-old man accused of making threatening gestures towards Jewish people outside a northern Sydney synagogue.
That man is due in Hornsby court on 29 January.
