Vandals spray ‘Kill Israiel’ graffiti, torch car in Australia’s largest Jewish community

The incident in Sydney’s suburb of Woollahra came after federal police established a task force to investigate increasing antisemitic crimes

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A torched car is removed in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra on Wednesday in front of anti-Israel graffiti written on a wall. Photo: Australian Broadcasting Corporation/AFP

Published: 1:49pm, 11 Dec 2024Updated: 1:59pm, 11 Dec 2024

Vandals torched a car and sprayed graffiti with anti-Israel slogans including an apparently misspelled “Kill Israiel” on Wednesday in a Sydney suburb that is home to Australia’s largest Jewish community. Officials condemned the attack as antisemitic.

The incident in the eastern suburb of Woollahra came after federal police this week established a task force to investigate increasing antisemitic crimes across the country. Police were searching for two male suspects, aged between 15 and 20, who were seen running from the scene of the attack, wearing face masks, or balaclavas, and dark clothing, New South Wales state Police Commissioner Karen Webb said.

She said there were “antisemitic writings” on the walls of two buildings, two cars including the burnt car, and the pavements. She did not detail what words were spray-painted, but the media photographed “Kill Israiel” painted on a garage door.

Last week’s arson at a Melbourne synagogue marked an escalation in targeted attacks in Australia since the war began between Israel and the militant Hamas group started over a year ago in the Gaza Strip.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns (second from right) inspects the area where anti-Israel graffiti was written on a wall in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Premier Chris Minns, the Sydney-based leader of the New South Wales state government, described the attack as an attempt to “intimidate the Jewish community in Sydney”.