Counter-terrorism police have taken over the investigation of a swastika vandalism attack at a Sydney synagogue as the police commissioner and premier call on the public to help catch the perpetrators.
Jewish leaders condemned the latest antisemitic attack, in which red swastikas were spray-painted across the front wall of Newtown synagogue in Sydney’s inner west by a male and female about 4.30am on Saturday.
They also ignited a clear liquid that burned out within minutes but the fire could have had deadly consequences if it had taken hold, the New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said on Sunday.
The “hateful criminals” were not just attempting to deface a place of worship but were seeking to destroy it, said the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president, David Ossip.
“This was a failed act of terrorism which risked the safety and property of residents peacefully sleeping in their homes near the synagogue,” he said.
The investigation had been taken over by the counter-terrorism command’s hate crime unit, Webb said.
“I appeal to anyone out there who knows who has perpetrated these disgusting offences to come forward and tell police who they are,” she said.
“There are other local investigations where there are graffiti on ride share bikes and skate parks and other things will continue to be dealt with locally, unless there’s a suggestion that they are linked.”
There has been a series of antisemitic attacks in Australia.
In December the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne was set on fire in an attack condemned by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and other leaders.
Hours before the Newtown attack, similar graffiti was spray-painted on a home in Queens Park in the city’s east, and cars and a trailer were vandalised.
On Friday the Southern Sydney synagogue in Allawah was vandalised with swastikas, while police are also investigating offensive comments written on a poster in Marrickville.
Police have released an image of a man wanted for questioning about the Allawah attack but the NSW premier, Chris Minns, said no one had yet come forward to identify him.
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“There is someone out there in the community today who knows who this person is,” he said. “You’ve got an obligation to report that to Crime Stoppers or the NSW Police.”
The comprehensive police response would continue, as would the government’s support for Jewish institutions to beef up security in the coming weeks, Minns said.
“This is obviously a fraught time in the city’s history, but we need to stick together,” he said.
“We live in a beautiful, multicultural community, but it rests on the premise that people are free to practise their religion, free from discrimination, violence, hatred and racism, and that is exactly what we’ve seen over the last 48 to 72 hours.”
The Inner West mayor, Darcy Byrne, also condemned the “appalling and cowardly” vandalism, and said “these ongoing gutless attacks are against everything our multicultural and multi-faith inner west community stands for”.
Investigators have released images of two people clad in black clothing they want to speak to about the attack in Newtown.
One was riding a mountain bike and the other had a motorised scooter.
The rise of hate speech and intimidation in Australia has been linked to the conflict in Gaza.
The race discrimination commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, in December said antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism against Arabs and Palestinians had dramatically increased.