$106M Towards Counterterrorism After Alleged Antisemitic Attack on Jewish Leader’s Former Home
Image: Photo: AAP Image/Neve Brissendeni
A home in the eastern suburbs has been the target of an alleged antisemitic attack. The house in Dover Heights was sold in 2022, but was previously owned by Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
In the attack, cars were graffitied with antisemitic slurs, two cars were firebombed, and a house was vandalised with splashes of red paint.
Its understood the current residents of the Dover Heights house are not Jewish.
Police are investigating if the attack was aimed at Ryvchin, who is one of Australia’s most prominent Jewish voices, who has been outspoken in his support for Israel’s actions against Gaza and the Palestinian people since the Hamas attack of 7 October, 2023.
The antisemitic attack in Dover Heights
The attack occurred on Military Road in Dover Heights.
Residents were awoken by two cara set on fire outside one of the homes – a Mercedes-Benz which was parked on the road outside the house, and a van which was parked in the driveway.
The two cars, as well as one other vehicle on same street, were vandalised with spray-painted antisemitic slurs.
Just before 4am on Friday, residents of Military Road woke to find two cars on fire at one home – a van parked in a driveway and a Mercedes-Benz sedan parked on the road.
It’s reported that the vehicles were still well alight when Fire and Rescue NSW arrived on the scene.
“I think we woke up to the sound of the gasoline tank exploding, but then we kept hearing pops and whistles. The flames just kept getting bigger. It took the fire crew 40 minutes to get it out,” Military Road resident Shannon Rancour told SMH. “The more water they sprayed, the bigger the flames got.”
NSW Police are investigating, and have confirmed detectives are investigating the incident as a hate crime.
Home Affairs Minister announces $106 million federal counterterrorism funding
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said that perpetrators of antisemitic attacks, and extremist hate crimes from any fringe groups, would feel the “full force of the law”.
Speaking to media on Friday (January 17) — just hours after NSW Police spoke to media about the suspected antisemitic firebombing — Burke said that fringe groups are current feeling emboldened, and their actions are a ““grotesque exploitation” of the war on Gaza.
Labor has commited $106.2 million to counter violence in the wake of these attacks and Burke says and the actions of the perpetrators are a ““grotesque exploitation” of the war on Gaza.
Burke acknowledged that threats and hate crimes are not specific to antisemitism, and that threats to the wider community come from various groups.
He naming white supremacists as an example., but also acknowledged a question from a journalist about threats posed by fringe groups within the Islamic community — particularly in areas of his seat of Watson.
Burke said the threats to community safety came from various groups, naming white supremacists and acknowledging a question from a journalist about whether threats were being posed by groups in the Islamic community in places such as western Sydney, where he holds the seat of Watson.
Burke’s announcement was also followed by calls for an end to the antisemitic attacks and a firm warning from Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus — Australia’s most senior Jewish politician — who spoke on the current provisional ceasefire recently agreed to by Israel and Hamas.
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