1 week Ago By Georgina Noack
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned anti-Semitic vandalism in Sydney’s eastern suburbs overnight after a car was set alight and dozens of others graffitied with anti-Israel slogans. Mr Albanese said the scenes were disturbing and “deeply troubling”. “There is no place for anti-Semitism in Australia.
Conflict overseas cannot be made a platform for prejudice at home,” he said on Thursday morning. “I have trust in our law enforcement agencies to deal with this.” Cabinet minister Tanya Plibersek, who holds the neighbouring seat of Sydney, said the attack in Woollahra was “absolutely disgusting”.
“I don’t know what the perpetrators of these sorts of crimes think they are achieving, if anything, this reduces support and sympathy for their views,” she told Sky News. “I’m so shocked and disappointed that people think that this is an appropriate response to what’s going on in the Middle East.” Emergency services were called to Wellington Street in the leafy suburb of Woollahra after 12.
30am on Thursday after receiving multiple reports that a car was on fire. Fire crews extinguished the blaze but the vehicle was destroyed. When police arrived, they found up to a dozen nearby cars graffitied with anti-Israel messages in white spray paint, along with the doors of a unit complex and the windows of notable chef Matt Moran’s Chiswick restaurant.
Slogans included “f*** Israel” and “PKK coming”, a reference to a Kurdish separatist group. Vandalism extended across Wellington Street, Tara Street, Fullerton Street, and Ocean Street. On Scene Bondi shared footage from the streets of the burning vehicle and of police collecting evidence — including discarded spray paint cans — from the scene.
It is understood no one was injured in the attack, but residents have been left shaken by the spree. One resident told The Daily Telegraph he was “shocked” to find his car, which was parked near the Turkish consulate on Ocean Street, defaced on Thursday morning. Another resident, who is Jewish, told the tabloid the graffiti was “cowardly”, “incredibly sad and distressing”.
Woollahra Mayor Sarah Swan said she was appalled by the “hateful” vandalism. “This hateful criminal activity is not welcome anywhere in Australia and it is very distressing and worrying for our community,” Councillor Swan told the Daily Telegraph. Federal Member for Wentworth Allegra Spender also reacted to the vandalism, taking to X to condemn the “appalling” act.
Ms Spender wrote she was “deeply concerned” by the “completely unacceptable damage to cars and a local business”. “This sort of violence has no place in our country or our community. Antisemitism and racial hate has no place in our society.
” NSW Member for Vaucluse Kellie Sloan also hit out at the deeply troubling” attack, which she said was an escalation of anti-Semitism shown toward the eastern suburbs since October 7. “These disgraceful attacks on the Jewish community must stop. Violence and intimidation have no place in our city,” Ms Sloan wrote in a post to Threads.
“The eastern suburbs has endured ongoing acts of vandalism, hate and abuse since October 7. This escalation is deeply troubling.” Officers from the Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command have established multiple crime scenes, which are under examination by forensic teams.
Police have established crime scenes, and anyone who has knowledge of the incidents, or who was in the area at the time, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Katina Curtis and Dan Jervis-Bardy.
