‘I feel sick’

Antisemitic vandals target home once owned by high-profile Jewish leader

In the latest attack, this time in Dover Heights, 'a number of vehicles were sprayed with graffiti, two vehicles were set alight, and a house was splashed with paint'.

A burnt out car with antisemitic graffiti is towed away in Dover Heights, Sydney, Friday, January 17, 2025. Photo: AAP Image/Neve Brissendeni
A burnt out car with antisemitic graffiti is towed away in Dover Heights, Sydney, Friday, January 17, 2025. Photo: AAP Image/Neve Brissendeni

A van and a car were set ablaze in the driveway of a Dover Heights home in what appeared to be yet another attack targeting Sydney’s Jewish community early on Friday morning.

The AJN can confirm that the house targeted recently belonged to Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin.

According to the Daily Telegraph, red paint was splashed across the front of the home, while antisemitic slurs were sprayed on nearby vehicles. The AJN understands the home’s current occupants are not themselves Jewish.

Neighbours expressed fear and shock to the Daily Telegraph, noting that several Jewish families and a rabbi live along the same road.

“It’s disgusting, I feel sick,” one woman said.

Cars were torched and a house painted in red in Dover Heights.

NSW Police said it was notified just before 4am “after a number of vehicles were located sprayed with graffiti, two vehicles were set alight, and a house was splashed with paint on Military Road, Dover Heights.

“Officers from Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command are investigating the incident.”

NSW Fire and Rescue Acting Superintendent Aaron Ross confirmed that firefighters quickly controlled the situation.

“Crews arrived to find two vehicles on fire and a third damaged,” Ross said. “It was rapidly extinguished and didn’t spread to the adjacent property.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns said he had been alerted to the attack.

“This is a disgusting and dangerous act of violence that is the latest example of a rising level of anti semitic attacks in our community,” he said on Friday morning.

“Civil society stands united in condemning this flagrant racism.

“I’ll be getting an update from police this morning. We’ll be doing everything we can to catch these thugs.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it “another antisemitic attack that is against everything that we stand for”.

NSW Opposition leader Mark Speakman also condemned the incident.

“With a fragile Gaza ceasefire brokered just yesterday, it’s devastating to see yet another disgusting antisemitic attack early this morning, involving arson and vandalism, this time in Dover Heights,” he said, the Daily Telegraph reported.

“Hatred has no place in our society. Those responsible deserve swift, harsh punishment.”

Member for Vaucluse Kellie Sloane said, “These attacks are escalating in their aggression and their frequency and the criminals are becoming emboldened. This campaign of terror against the community must stop and the largest possible sentences handed out when caught.”

Waverley mayor Will Nemesh called it “yet another vile antisemitic attack on our community”.

“These disgusting and violent acts of aggression have no place in our society,” he said. “We need all three levels of government to demonstrate strong leadership and take decisive action. The time is now. Enough is enough.”

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said he was “profoundly disturbed and sickened to wake up to news of yet another antisemitic attack”.

“Criminal acts like these, perpetrated by masked cowards and thugs in the dead of night, are intended to menace and intimidate the Jewish community and further fragment our social cohesion.

“All Australians should be outraged by what are seeing on our streets. We simply cannot accept this as the new normal and must not become desensitised to these crimes.

“We are closely liaising with law enforcement and the NSW Government in relation to this incident and previous antisemitic hate crimes.”

CEO of the Zionist Federation of Australia Alon Cassuto said it’s clear the community cannot be lulled into thinking the hostage and ceasefire deal will “magically end 15 months of rabid antisemitism here in Australia”.

“The brazen attack overnight in Dover Heights, with more cars torched and homes vandalised, isn’t just an assault on Jews; it’s an attack on all Australians,” he said.

“The October 7 terrorist attack and the subsequent war have unleashed unprecedented antisemitism in Australia which has fractured our social cohesion. A ceasefire on the other side of the world won’t stop this; our governments must act decisively at home to ensure Jewish Australians are safe.”

Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission Dvir Abramovich said it’s a “nightmare turned into reality” and has called for a national cabinet to be convened immediately.

“The revelation that the targeted home belongs to a high-profile Jewish leader takes this frontal assault to an even more sinister level,” he said.

“This was not random – it was a deliberate and chilling attempt to threaten a prominent figure of our Jewish community.

“Prime Minister Albanese, the time for words has passed. The nation demands decisive leadership. A national cabinet must be convened immediately to address this escalating crisis with the urgency it deserves.

“We need robust laws and a unified front to root out this menace before it spirals further out of control. This moment calls for nothing less than a united stand against the forces seeking to tear apart the fabric of our society. Let history remember this as the turning point when Australia rose together to say: enough is enough.”

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