Former home of Jewish leader vandalised, cars torched in Sydney

SYDNEY: A home in Sydney previously owned by a senior Jewish community leader was vandalised on Friday morning and two cars were set on fire, with one spray painted with an antisemitic slur, Australian authorities said.

The attack, the third targeting the Jewish community in Sydney in two months, happened on a property once owned by Alex Ryvchin, the co-chief executive of the Executive Council of the Australian Jewry, New South Wales premier Chris Minns said.

“These are horrifying antisemitic attacks … it is truly disgusting,” Minns said during a media conference.

“While police can’t categorically at this early stage of the investigation say that the attack and the residence are linked, clearly it would be a massive coincidence if they were not linked.”

Police said the house in the Dover Heights suburb was spray painted in red. There are no reports of injury.

Australia has seen a rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents since Israel retaliated against an attack by militant Palestinian group Hamas on Oct 7, 2023, with an assault on Gaza that has left tens of thousands of people dead.

A car was set alight and two properties spray painted with anti-Israel messages in Sydney last month, just days after an arson attack at a synagogue in Melbourne which is being investigated as terrorism.

The latest attack comes two days after Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. However, an Israeli minister has said he would quit the government if the deal is approved.

Israel has delayed cabinet meetings to ratify the ceasefire, and media reports said voting could occur on Friday or Saturday, although the deal is expected to be approved.