Authorities are investigating whether Australians have been paid to carry out acts of anti-Semitic violence by people overseas, as national leaders agree to establish a database of attacks.
The Only About Children centre in Maroubra, in Sydney’s east, was set on fire soon after midnight on Tuesday and the words “F*** the Jews” were sprayed in black paint on a wall.
The blaze was put out but the building was extensively damaged. There were no reports of injuries and the property was empty at the time.
It is the latest in a string of anti-Semitic arson and graffiti incidents in the city’s east, home to a large Jewish community.
Australian Federal Police commissioner Reece Kershaw said the force was probing 15 serious attacks since December and was considering whether overseas actors or individuals paid local criminals to carry out some of the crimes.
“We are looking at if – or how – they have been paid, for example in cryptocurrency, which can take longer to identify,” he said.
“We are looking into whether any young people are involved in carrying out some of these crimes, and if they have been radicalised online and encouraged to commit anti-Semitic acts.
“Regardless, it all points to the same motivation: demonising and intimidating the Jewish community.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese bowed to pressure for stronger action and convened a national cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon, with leaders agreeing to establish a national database of anti-Semitic incidents.
About 200 people descended on NSW Parliament House hours after the latest attack, calling for the state government to step in and do more.
Mr Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns, who both attended the burnt site earlier in the day, pledged to throw all necessary resources at tracking down those responsible.
“This is a place for children and families and it should never have been denigrated by this despicable and horrifying crime,” the prime minister told reporters.
The federal government will subsidise fees and worker costs at the childcare centre and along with the NSW government will cover any repair costs not covered by insurance.
Rabbi Zalman Goldstein from the Maroubra Synagogue said his community would hold a special service on Tuesday evening to greet the dark events with “light, peace and love”.
“I’m saddened this can happen in Maroubra, a very peaceful, very beautiful place where people move to with their young families,” he told AAP.
“But Jewish people are not scared, we are very resilient … we’ve been through things like this in much worse ways and we hope we can be a message for other minority groups to stay strong.”
Mr Minns decried the attack, saying “these bastards will be rounded up by NSW Police.”
But the premier was forced to defend his state’s handling of the crisis and his rhetoric, given his stronger language has been matched with an increase to the rate of attacks.
He said a police strike force targeting anti-Semitic crimes had made more than 180 arrests and charged at least 10 people since October 2023.
An additional 20 investigators have been tasked to the strike force, NSW Police Force Commissioner Karen Webb said on Tuesday.
The latest incident comes as the nation’s Jewish community reels from a vandalism and arson attack on the former home of Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief Alex Ryvchin early on Friday.
The house was defaced with slurs and red paint, and cars were set alight outside.
