Ripponlea synagogue firebombing declared as terrorist attack, AFP set up anti-Semitism special taskforce

The “evil, anti-Semitic” firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue is officially being treated as a terrorist attack, with police hunting three suspects as a new special police task force is established to combat the exponential rise in anti-Semitism.

The political fallout from Friday’s early-morning arson attack at Adass Israel Synagogue, in Ripponlea, is continuing to heat up, as the Albanese Government calls for unity while it stands accused by the Coalition of failing Jewish Australians on multiple fronts.

It came as the peak body for Jewish Australians on Monday urged the Prime Minister to urgently adopt a suite of measures – including calling an urgent national cabinet — to deal with the country’s rising anti-Semitism crisis.

Congregants at the Melbourne synagogue were forced to flee shortly after 4am on Friday when the building went up in flames – resulting in wide-spread damage in what Premier Jacinta Allan labelled “one of the most evil acts” of anti-Semitism Australia had ever seen.

At a meeting of Victorian and federal police on Monday, authorities determined that after reviewing evidence and intelligence over the weekend, they had determined it had been a “targeted” terrorist attack.

Victoria Police commissioner Shane Patton confirmed three suspects were being pursued, and that there was “no intelligence” to suggest another synagogue would be similarly attacked.

“What concerns me is the callous nature of this attack, the involved nature of this attack, and the fact that the attack has taken place where it occurred,” he said.

He conceded Friday’s attack had caught authorities by surprise – and said nothing had been “ruled in or out”, including whether foreign actors were involved.

“Nothing has been ruled in or out. The investigation is still very much in its early days. We will explore every avenue,” he said.

“The timing of when this occurred, and all the environmental circumstances are factors that are all looked at. We consider everything in the investigation, and then determine what’s relevant, what’s evidence, what’s intelligence, and sift through it.”

Speaking from Canberra later, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said the agency was conducting its own inquiries to “ensure there is no ongoing threat” of another attack – but said at this stage there was no intelligence to suggest that was likely.

“Sadly, this appalling incident appears to embody the ugly dynamics that ASIO has been warning about. Politically motivated violence is now one of ASIO and this country’s principal security concerns,” he said, referring to the upgrading of Australia’s terrorism threat level to “probable” earlier this year and his warning of attacks with no forewarning.

He stood alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who announced AFP task force Avalite had been established in response to three anti-Semitic attacks: the synagogue firebombing, an attack on Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns’ electorate office, and an incident in Woollahra in Sydney where a car was torched, and buildings were vandalised with anti-Israel messages.

“This will be the third task force that will work with state and territory police forces,” he said.

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said the task force would give police expanded powers to investigate the incidents, and a “flying squad” would be deployed nationally to respond to incidents.

“(This) will be an agile and experienced squad of counter-terrorism investigators who will focus on threats, violence and hatred towards the Australian Jewish community and parliamentarians,” he said.

The announcement came after Peter Dutton on Monday morning declared an elected Coalition Government would make anti-Semitism a priority, as he took aim at Mr Albanese for his “weak” and “inadequate” leadership on anti-Jew sentiment he said had led to the firebombing.

“A Dutton Coalition Government will act from day one to fix Labor’s law enforcement crisis ... and it will … say in a very clear voice … that we will not tolerate racism of any description and we will not tolerate anti-Semitism in any form,” he said, before he visited the Ripponlea synagogue on Monday afternoon.

He said a Coalition Government would establish a special taskforce led by the AFP, ASIO and other agencies that would be directed to refer any visa holders involved in acts of anti-Semitism for immediate cancellation and deportation. He said he would also issue a new ministerial direction to the AFP to prioritise addressing anti-Semitism and give the peak Jewish body funding to spend on armed guards for synagogues and schools.

Speaking outside the synagogue later, he said Australia needed to “make sure that the anti-Semitism that has now become commonplace in our society is repelled at every opportunity”.

“We need to make sure that as a society we stand united with the Jewish community and let them know that we do not tolerate any act of anti-Semitism in our country,” he said.

Labor has defended its track record in tackling anti-Semitism, and Mr Burgess on Monday refuted suggestions the Government could be blamed for the synagogue attack.

“I think that’s a hard call to put something on Government to stop people doing the wrong thing in our society,” he said, and again urged commentators to be cautious with their language.

Mr Albanese, who will visit the synagogue later this week, said his Government had taken strong action against anti-Semitism, including criminalising doxxing, appointing a special envoy to combat the scourge, and giving the Executive Council of Australian Jewry $32.5 million to spend on upgrading security in the wake of Friday’s attack.

“We have consistently taken action. We’ll continue to do so,” he said.

Mr Albanese also has defended his playing tennis in Perth on Saturday afternoon after visiting a local synagogue earlier in the day without cameras.

ECAJ on Monday called on the Government to adopt another five urgent actions: support mandatory national anti-Semitism education in Australian schools, urgently convene a national cabinet meeting, direct police to strictly enforce existing laws prohibiting harassment or intimidation by protesters, enact new legislation to require universities to protect the safety and security of students and staff, and “review the Government’s rhetoric and public statements” on anti-Semitism and the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The Coalition had earlier attacked the Government for being unable to call out anti-Semitism without also mentioning Islamaphobia.

Home affairs spokesman James Paterson said Mr Albanese had repeatedly over the last 14 months been unable to refer to the rise in anti-Semitism without mentioning Islamophobia.

He said there was no need to “balance communities’ experience of racism against each other”.

“I mean it has often been the case over the last year when there’s been a horrific act of anti-Semitism that the Prime Minister and his senior ministers have stood up and said, ‘we condemn anti-Semitism and Islamophobia’,” he told ABC Radio.

“Both of those things are equally abhorrent, but they are not equally prevalent… And because the Prime Minister has been unable to call it out on its own when it happens, that has sent a very bad message to the Jewish community and others that their experience of racism, their experience of bigotry is not worthy of stand-alone condemnation, that it has to be balanced against the condemnation of other hatreds, and that is sending a bad message.”

Liberal senator Dave Sharma went a step further, saying: “anytime any senior minister mentioned anti-Semitism in the last 12 months they also mentioned a fictitious Islamophibia which was not going on”.

“They always had to create an equivalence every time they raise it,” he said.

Mr Albanese declined to mention “Islamophobia” when questioned on Monday.

“Anti-Semitism is a major threat, and anti-Semitism has been on the rise. And we have seen incidents such as this that have been targeted specifically at the Jewish community,” he said in a response to a question about whether anti-Semitism was a bigger threat than Islamophobia.

But in a testy radio interview earlier, Labor minister Chris Bowen proved the Coalition’s point.

“They both exist, and they both can be called out and it is not diminishing one or the other to say that,” he said.

“The Prime Minister has brought leadership to this matter; he’s tried to provide a moment of national unity. Peter Dutton brought political, point-scoring and a disgusting low-rent approach to this matter.”

Mr Dutton elsewhere took aim at Mr Burns, the Jewish Labor MP whose electorate of Macnamara is home to the Adass Israel synagogue, accusing him of failing to stand up to the Prime Minister.

“When people were bought in from Gaza, people who hadn’t had the security checks undertaken on tourist visas, that’s when Josh Burns should have been speaking. Josh Burns should have been speaking up when the protests took place at the Opera House,” he said.

“I don’t doubt Josh Burns’ intent, his passion, but he’s part of a political party here which is the problem.”

Mr Burns said he “couldn’t care less” what Mr Dutton said about him, but said it didn’t “serve the Jewish community to be arguing amongst ourselves”.

“It doesn’t serve the Jewish community to be fighting amongst the political class. Peter Dutton can say what he likes about me; I honestly couldn’t care less. I’m interested in supporting my community… in being a representative for them and to get things done for them so they can go about their lives and enjoy the multicultural Australia,” he said.

Speaking alongside Mr Albanese in Canberra, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus – a Jewish Australian – said this was a time for “national unity”.

“(This is) a time for all Australians to stand together against anti-Semitism. It’s not a time for some political leaders and some political parties to be looking for difference,” he said.