Australian police launch a special operation to investigate increased antisemitic attacks

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian federal police launched a special operation to investigate an increase in antisemitic threats and violence since the war between Israel and Hamas began last year.

Jewish leaders say prejudice against their community has reached unprecedented levels, with most incidents reported in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s largest cities where 85% of the nation’s Jewish population live.

Almost 117,000 Jewish people live in Australia, according to the last census in 2021, or 0.46% of the 25.4 million residents. The government says only Israel is home to more Holocaust survivors than Australia on a per capita basis.

Here’s a look at some of the main cases investigated by Special Operation Avalite:

Dec. 11: Antisemitic graffiti attacks in the eastern Sydney suburb of Woollahra

Police are looking for two male suspects, estimated to be aged between 15 and 20, seen running from Magney St. in Woollahra when a car fire was reported at 1 a.m.

Two cars including the one that burned had been graffitied. Two homes and the sidewalk had also been spray-painted with what police described as “antisemitic writing” that included an apparently misspelled “Kill Israiel.”

Woollahra is a center of Jewish life in Sydney and one of the wealthiest suburbs in the nation.

Not everyone who lives in Magney St. is Jewish and police say there is no evidence that Jewish residents were specifically targeted.

Dec. 6: Arson attack on Adass Israel Synagogue in a southeastern Melbourne suburb

The Dec. 6 attack has been declared a terrorist act after authorities concluded there was a political motive. Police are searching for three suspects.

Two worshippers saw two men with their faces covered spreading a liquid accelerant around the