Melbourne Police probe suspected arson of car displaying Hanukkah sign after Bondi beach attack

Sydney: Australian police are investigating a suspected arson attack after a car displaying a sign celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah was set on fire in Melbourne. The incident comes hardly two weeks after the Bondi beach shooting that killed 15 people.

Victoria Police said the fire was lit in the early hours of Thursday morning in the suburb of St Kilda East and described the incident as a “suspicious fire”. As a precaution, residents of the house were evacuated, though no injuries were reported.

The vehicle, which was unoccupied and parked in a residential driveway, had a “Happy Chanukah” sign fixed to its roof. Footage broadcast by national broadcaster ABC showed the car badly damaged by flames.

In a statement, police said detectives had identified a person who may be able to assist with their inquiries and were actively working to locate them.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement that, “Australia’s Jewish community is in mourning after the Bondi terrorist attack. The firebombing of a car in Melbourne is another terrible act of suspected antisemitism...There is no place in Australia for this kind of hatred and it has to stop.”

The incident comes amid heightened concern over antisemitism in Australia following a deadly attack earlier this month. On December 14, two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney, killing 15 people and injuring many others. The victims, all Jewish, ranged in age from a 10-year-old girl to an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor.

Rabbi Effy Block of Chabad of St Kilda said the Melbourne fire appeared to be an antisemitic attack.

“Thank God no people were harmed,” he told. “But this is a continuing escalation. Members of the Jewish community in St Kilda and Melbourne do not feel safe in their own homes or country.”

In response to the Bondi Beach shooting, Australian authorities have moved to strengthen laws and penalties relating to hate crimes. The attacks have also prompted renewed debate about antisemitism, gun control and whether police protection at Jewish events has been sufficient.

Around 85 per cent of Australia’s Jewish population lives in Sydney and Melbourne, where a rise in antisemitic incidents has been recorded over the past year.

(With AFP and AP inputs)