Just before dawn on December 6, 2024, worshipers were inside the Adass Israel Synagogue of Melbourne when “two masked men... threw fuel inside” it, setting it ablaze.
“There was some banging on a door with some liquid thrown inside... the whole place took alight pretty quickly,” board member Benjamin Klein recalled. One congregant suffered burns in the scramble to escape.
Reporters described the sound of a “big bang... like a sledgehammer,” glass blowing out, and terrified worshipers running into the dark as about 60 firefighters fought the blaze. Community leaders called it one of the darkest days for Victoria’s Jews.
Weeks earlier, in Sydney, a kosher institution in Bondi, Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, was gutted before sunrise. Prosecutors now allege that a figure sought a $12,000 payment for directing this and another related attack, part of a pattern investigators say involved criminal proxies.
This is why Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government’s decision matters. On Tuesday, Australia expelled Iran’s ambassador after ASIO (the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation) concluded that Tehran directed at least two antisemitic attacks in late 2024, including the Adass fire and the Bondi arson.
Canberra also suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran and said it would move to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. These are necessary, overdue steps that match the gravity of the threat and indicate to Australian Jews that their government intends to protect them.
For months, this newspaper urged Australia to act. In January, our editorial asked a simple question: “How many more attacks before Australia defends its Jewish community?”
In July, we warned that when antisemitism is indulged or disguised as politics, “it doesn’t stay in the abstract... it sets fires to synagogues.” Today’s decision marks the beginning of addressing these warnings.
Context matters: A sharp diplomatic exchange has taken place recently. A few days ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a letter accusing Albanese of “rewarding Hamas,” urging him to “replace weakness with action,” and to confront antisemitism in Australia. You can disagree with the tone, but the timing underscores how much pressure had built for Canberra to shift from words to deeds.
Meaningful tools require follow-up
Give credit where it is due. Expelling an ambassador and pursuing an IRGC listing are meaningful tools, provided that there is follow-through. That means charging proxies and facilitators to the fullest extent of the law, tightening protection for synagogues, schools, and kosher businesses, funding security upgrades where they are needed, and coordinating with tech platforms and state authorities to disrupt the online radicalization that feeds real-world violence.
The message must be clear. Foreign regimes and their hirelings will not treat Australia’s Jewish community as a soft target.
A small, human note is in order. For Australian Jews who have endured a year of threats, vandalism, and the awful fear that comes with sending a child to a visibly Jewish school, this decision allows a brief exhale. Not a celebration, just a relief.
Policy cannot erase what happened. It can make the next attack less likely. You are our brothers and sisters; we pray with you and hope this wave of hate will pass soon.
This is also a chance to steady a relationship that has frayed. Policy shifts in Canberra rattled many here and in the Diaspora. If the government now backs these expulsions with the promised IRGC designation, solid police work, and consistent public clarity, trust can be rebuilt. More importantly, deterrence will be restored. Keep going.