Netanyahu’s comments are his most direct criticism of the Australian Prime Minister and follow months of brewing anti-semitism in overseas communities in the wake of the October 2023 Hamas attacks.

Netanyahu linked the attack to the Labor Government’s recent decision to support a pro-Palestinian UN resolution.

ABHORRENT

“The burning of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne is an abhorrent act of anti-semitism,” Mr Netanyahu said.

“I expect the State authorities to use their full weight to prevent such anti-semitic 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 a 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.”

In the early hours of December 6, Victorian firefighters received a call alerting them to a blaze at a synagogue in Melbourne’s east.

After arriving at the scene at 4.18am to find the single-story building “fully involved in fire”, 17 fire trucks and 60 firefighters extinguished the blaze.

Two people were evacuated from the scene and treated for minor injuries, a Fire Rescue Victoria spokesperson told The Epoch Times.

Victorian Police confirmed in a statement that they were still investigating the incident.

Police are still working to establish the circumstances of the fire and believe it was a targeted incident, calling for anyone with information or CCTV footage to come forward.

“Police will conduct additional patrols around the synagogue and surrounding areas. We also continue to work closely with the Jewish community to provide reassurance,” police said.

Later in the day, worshippers were allowed into the synagogue to retrieve items.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke with Mr Albanese following the fire.

“I spoke now with the Australian Prime Minister and expressed my firm condemnation of the horrific arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Australia,” he said.

INTOLERABLE

Herzog said there had been an intolerable wave of attacks on Jewish communities in Australia and around the world since October 7, 2023.

“I noted to the Prime Minister that this rise and the increasingly serious anti-semitic attacks on the Jewish community required firm and strong action, and that this was a message that must be heard clearly from Australia’s leaders,” Herzog said.

Mr Albanese described the attack on the synagogue as a “shocking incident” and said it should be unequivocally condemned.

“There is no place in Australia for an outrage such as this. To attack a place of worship is an attack on Australian values. To attack a synagogue is an act of anti-semitism, it’s attacking the right that all Australians should have to practice their faith in peace and security,” he told reporters.

Albanese said “anti-semitism has been on the rise” and pledged to “call it out wherever we see it”.

Following Netanyahu’s post to X, Labor Minister Murray Watt said he “respectively disagrees” with the Israeli Prime Minister and defended Australia’s position at the UN.

“Ever since the horrific October 7 attacks, the Albanese Government has taken a range of strong actions to stand against anti-semitism and to stamp it out,” he said in an ABC report.

“Our government has absolutely zero tolerance for anti-semitism.”

Watt said Australia “stood with 156 other countries in supporting that resolution as another step towards gaining peace in the Middle East”.

The UN resolution (pdf) calls for Israel to end its “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible”.

It also called for the recognition of the “inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, primarily the right to self-determination and the right to their independent Sate.”

ABSTAINED

Eight nations voted against the motion including Israel, the US, and the Javier Milei-led Argentina. The Ukraine was one of multiple nations that abstained.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said anti-semitism in Australia had risen dramatically, describing it as “deplorable.”

“Anti-semitism has no place in our society. Racism of any nature should be absolutely abhorred and condemned,” he said.

“What I want in the Middle East is peace. We’re not going to achieve that if we have terrorist organisations given support.

“In our country, the level of anti-semitism is a national disgrace and we should be doing everything we can to stamp it out because we wouldn’t treat any other person the way that we’re treating the Jewish community at the moment.”