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Two attacks targeting Jewish sites in Melbourne on Friday night — just minutes apart — underscored the alarming rise in antisemitic incidents across Australia, with over 2,000 cases reported since the October 7th massacre 21 months ago.
At approximately 8:00 p.m. local time, an assailant doused the entrance of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation with flammable liquid and set it on fire — while roughly 20 worshipers were inside. No injuries were reported, and those inside escaped through the back of the synagogue before firefighters extinguished the blaze.
Just half an hour later, roughly 20 people stormed the Israeli-owned restaurant “Miznon,” vandalizing the premises and yelling “Death to the IDF” — the same hate chant led by British rapper Bob Vylan at the Glastonbury Festival the previous weekend in England. The attackers — many of them masked — hurled furniture and food at the restaurant, shattering one of its outer windows as customers dined both inside and outside.
In addition to the synagogue arson and restaurant vandalism, several Jewish-owned cars in the area were torched and spray-painted with antisemitic hate slogans, according to local reports.
Police announced on Sunday that Angelo Loras, 34, from the Sydney suburb of Toongabbie, had been arrested on suspicion of setting ablaze the front door of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation synagogue. He was charged with a string of offenses, including reckless conduct endangering life.
On social media platform X, Loras describes himself as “Single, Iranian, forklift driver, music lover.”
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement. “Detectives will continue to examine the intent and ideology of the person charged to determine if the incident is in fact terrorism.”
While police have not formally classified the synagogue arson as an antisemitic or terrorist incident, the investigation is ongoing and includes an assessment of the suspect’s motives and ideology.
A terrorism classification would unlock additional resources and enable more severe charges. Meanwhile, police emphasized that “there is no place in our society for antisemitic or hate-based behavior.”
Here is the clip of Pro-Palestinian arsonists who set fire to a Melbourne synagogue — while Jews were inside praying.
They poured flammable liquid on the doors and lit it up. Kids were inside.
This is antisemitism, full stop. pic.twitter.com/U0PEtnOr5o
— Leslie Young ✡︎ (@AkaLazarus) July 5, 2025
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the synagogue arson as a “cowardly act of violence and antisemitism” and called for the perpetrator to be brought swiftly to justice.
Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan said, “There should be no hesitation in calling this what it is. It is disgraceful behavior by a pack of cowards.”
“Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate, and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of antisemitism,” she added.
This is not an isolated incident — it marks the second synagogue arson in Melbourne in recent weeks.
Australia’s Jewish community — numbering around 120,000 — has been one of the hardest hit across the globe by the wave of antisemitism triggered by the October 7th massacre in Israel.
According to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, more than 2,000 antisemitic incidents occurred nationwide between October 2023 and September 2024 — greater than four times the previous year’s total.
Combat Antisemitism Movement CEO Sacha Roytman called the Friday’s Melbourne incidents “another escalation in the unprecedented wave of antisemitic incidents taking place in Australia.”
Roytman said the synagogue arson was an “attempted murder that miraculously ended without casualties,” and he demanded it be treated as a terrorist incident.
“We call on the Australian government, local authorities, and leaders from all sectors to take these grave events seriously,” Roytman stated. “The Australian government must take immediate action to protect the Jewish community, which has lost its sense of personal security — and fears that the situation will worsen even further.”
In response to this emergency situation, CAM will co-host the 2025 Australian Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism in Gold Coast on Sept. 3-5. With more than 75 mayors and city leaders from across Australia expected to attend, the summit will provide practical tools, data, and partnership opportunities to effectively combat antisemitism and strengthen social cohesion at the local level.
