<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>335051</docID> <postdate>2024-12-11 12:25:18</postdate> <headline>‘Disgusting’ anti-Jewish graffiti sparks police pledge</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-335053" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20241211166633311916-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>The prime minister and NSW premier have condemned a hate crime in Sydney's eastern suburbs. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p class="wire-column__preview__author"><span class="kicker-line">By <b>Neve Brissenden and Jack Gramenz</b> in Sydney</span></p> <p><strong>Jewish communities will be under stricter police surveillance after a spate of anti-Semitic attacks across the country.</strong></p> <p>Graffiti including "Kill Israiel" (sic) was sprayed on buildings and footpaths in Woollahra, a Sydney suburb known for its Jewish community, in the early hours of Wednesday.</p> <p>A car, believed to be stolen, which the perpetrators drove to the scene was set on fire on Magney Street.</p> <div class="embed-block"> <p>Resources have been increased as officers follow all leads, Commissioner Karen Webb told reporters.</p> <p>"What happened last night is disgusting and there's no place for hate of this nature in Sydney or anywhere in Australia," she said.</p> <p>"We are taking police and dedicating them to the operation … so police will be out there, the community can expect to see officers that will come up and speak to people."</p> <p>Commissioner Webb said residents of Jewish neighbourhoods across Sydney would see increased "high visibility" policing.</p> <p>Premier Chris Minns also condemned the attack, saying it was a hate crime.</p> <p>"A violent act of destruction, clearly anti-Semitic, designed to strike fear into the community that lives in this part of Sydney," he told reporters.</p> <p>He said amending legislation to tighten laws for offenders was not off the table.</p> <p>"Can we do more? I think the answer is yes and I'm not closing the door to changes to the law," he said.</p> <p>The perpetrators, believed to be two males of slim build, aged between 15 and 20, wore face coverings and dark clothing.</p> <p>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was an "anti-Semitic attack".</p> <p>"This isn't an attack on a government, this is an attack on people because they happen to be Jewish," he told ABC radio.</p> <p>"This is a hate crime, it's as simple as that."</p> <p>Mr Albanese said the perpetrators committed "abhorrent criminal behaviour".</p> <p>"This does not change anything that is occurring on the ground in the Middle East," he said.</p> <p>"This is an attack against their fellow Australians."</p> <p>Foreign Minister Penny Wong said acts of hate had no place in Australia and anti-Semitism was condemned wherever it occurred.</p> <p>"Australian Jewish communities have a right to be and feel safe," she said on social media.</p> <p>The attack comes after the Adass Israel Synagogue at Ripponlea in Melbourne's southeast was set alight in a pre-dawn attack on Friday while a number of people were inside.</p> <p>Australian Federal Police have set up a special operation in response to the "likely" act of terrorism, which will investigate threats, violence and hatred towards the Jewish community and parliamentarians.</p> <p>It will also investigate Wednesday's attack, the second recent incident in Woollahra after buildings and vehicles were targeted in November.</p> <p>A ute was set on fire, and multiple cars, a restaurant and other buildings were graffitied with anti-Israel messages.</p> <p>Two men are in custody, charged over that attack.</p> <p>Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said it was designed to terrorise Jewish Australians.</p> <p>"The Jewish community again wakes to scenes of terror and devastation," he said.</p> <p>"How long will this continue and with what horrors will it end?"</p> </div> </body>