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JewishHistoryעברית

Adass Israel synagogue arson

Date
6 December 2024Hebrew date: 5th of Kislev, 5785
Location
Adass Israel Synagogue, Ripponlea, MelbourneAustralia
Then part of
Commonwealth of Australia
Perpetrators
  • Three men charged by the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team (Individual)
Killed (estimate)
No reliable estimate
Category
Terror attack
Confidence
High

Summary

Shortly after 4 a.m. on 6 December 2024, offenders entered the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea, Melbourne, poured accelerant and set the building on fire. The Australian Federal Police said emergency services were called about 4.10 a.m. to the Glen Eira Avenue premises; at least three offenders were present; worshippers fled; one man sustained minor injuries to his hand; and a second man inside was not injured. ABC News reported that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the fire an antisemitic act of hate. On 9 December 2024 Victoria Police and the AFP stated that the fire was being investigated as a terrorist attack and moved the case to the Joint Counter Terrorism Team. By 19 June 2026 the Victorian JCTT had charged three men with arson, conduct endangering life and motor-vehicle theft for allegedly breaking in and setting the fire; the AFP releases do not name them.

Sources

  1. Ripponlea synagogue fire investigation continues. Australian Federal Police (2024)
  2. Victorian JCTT charge third alleged Melbourne synagogue arsonist. Australian Federal Police (2026)
  3. Melbourne synagogue fire condemned by PM as 'act of hate', as witnesses describe seeing masked attackers. ABC News (2024)
  4. 'Evil' synagogue fire declared likely terrorism. Australian Associated Press
  5. David J. Graham, The Jewish population of Australia: Key findings from the 2021 Census. JCA (2024)

Jewish population (estimates)

  • Worldwide: 15,736,800[6]c. 2024DellaPergola's core Jewish population estimate for 1 January 2024.
  • Commonwealth of Australia: 118,000[66]c. 2020DellaPergola core estimate 1 Jan 2020: 118,000 Jews in Australia. Nearest opened national core figure for 2020s Australian events (2021 census studies exist but the JCA PDF timed out here).
  • Adass Israel Synagogue, Ripponlea, Melbourne: 53,373 – 53,475[5]Estimated Jews in Melbourne in the 2021 census, three years before the December 2024 arson. The JCA report gives 53,373 for the Melbourne significant urban area and 53,475 for Greater Melbourne.

Sources for population estimates

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  54. Jacqueline Shields, Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries. Jewish Virtual Library
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  62. Sara Koplik, The Demise of the Jewish Community in Afghanistan, 1933–1952. SOAS University of London (PhD thesis abstract / deposit page) (2001)
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  64. All-Union 1959 census — ethnic composition of the USSR. Demoscope Weekly (РГАЭ РФ fond 1562)
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