“There is no place for hatred or antisemitism in our community.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the incident was “shocking”.
“This is not the Sydney we want. These racist attempts to divide our city won’t work,” he said.
“I’ll be speaking to police this morning. They will be found, and they will face the full force of the law.”
Minns told Channel 9’s Today he had spoken to the Israeli Ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, and David Ossip, the president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, saying the public was “with the Jewish community this morning”.
“The vast, vast majority of Australians that live in Australia’s most populous city hate this kind of violence,” he said.
In a statement, NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the “cowardly, antisemitic attacks strike at the heart of our society”.
“We need not just the full force of the law but every other ounce of resolve to root out this hatred,” he said. “Our communities deserve nothing less.”
‘Upset and anger’
Speaking in Woollahra, Sloane said two similar attacks in the space of a few weeks felt like a “pattern of intimidation and hatred against a community that is trying to go about their everyday lives peacefully and feel vulnerable and under attack”.
“People are both deeply upset and emotional, and there are people in tears that I’ve spoken to this morning,” she said.
“There are also people expressing incredible anger, anger that this continues to happen.”
Allegra Spender, the federal member for Wentworth, which includes Woollahra, told ABC’s RN Breakfast the community was “devastated”.
“This comes on the back of the attack in [Melbourne’s Adass Israel] synagogue on Friday, which the community is still reeling from.”
She said the second recent incident of vandalism in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, “the most concentrated Jewish community in the country”, meant the incident was antisemitic and not just anti-Israel.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said the Jewish community had again woken to “scenes of terror and devastation”.
“More burning cars and broken glass. Another act intended to terrorise us, drive us from our country and make our fellow Australians fearful of associating with us,” he said, adding that he expected the AFP’s new antisemitism taskforce “to bring the perpetrators swiftly to justice”.
Just under three weeks ago, buildings and vehicles in Woollahra were targeted in a similar attack.
Two men wearing masks and hoodies were captured on CCTV running from the scene, where a ute was set on fire, multiple cars damaged, and Matt Moran’s Chiswick restaurant and other buildings were graffitied with anti-Israel messages.
Two men were arrested and charged and are due to make further court appearances.
More to come
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