Adass Israel Synagogue
The Adass Israel ("the community of Israel") Synagogue was founded in 1869.[1]
Contents
2024 Melbourne synagogue attack
Incident
On 6 December 2024 early in the morning, a fire started at the synagogue. When police arrived they found two men. One of the men, Yumi Friedman, began running as the police approached. The police were able to detain both men. Police found Friedman had burns on his hands for which he explained to police that "I heard a big bang on the door with a sledgehammer, it looked like," he told AAP at the scene in south-east Melbourne. I stopped for a second and then suddenly heard another bang on the glass, and I saw glass fling. So I knew someone was out there trying to break in. Friedman fled the building to call police before returning to find the synagogue alight. There wasn't much of a fire when I started, so I just thought maybe I would come inside to get my phone," he said. But I touched the door, it was hot, and I burnt my hand so I didn't go inside." [2]
Friendman was reportedly preparing for morning prayer at 4 a.m. at the Synagogue.
Friedman told police he had seen two men wearing masks but they ran when they saw the Friedman.
Police have not identified any suspects from either witness or video evidence near the incident.
Response
Avalite task force
The Australian Federal Police recently created a taskforce Avalite to respond to threats to the Jewish community. The taskforce would provide security measures for Jewish places of importance, and police both speech and threats more actively. In addition, the Albanese government committed 32.5 million Australian dollars (close to $21 million USD) to increase security at Jewish community sites across the country, including synagogues and schools.[3]
Protest laws
Under new laws masks, attachment devices such as chains or locks, and flags commonly used by National Socialist political groups will be banned. [4] Politicians cited the need to identify protestors, remove material, barricades, and obstructions, and to further restrict what has been defined as hate speech in recent law within Australian politics.
