Months after the Hamas-led assault on Israel, on October 7, 2023, one of Australia's oldest Jewish schools was vandalized. The words, Jew, die, or spray-painted on an exterior fence of the Melbourne school. Five months later, October 24, a Jewish-owned bakery in Sydney was defaced with offensive graffiti.

Then a week later, a kosher deli was set on fire.

Two months after that, a synagogue was firebombed.

One person was injured.

This was a shocking incident.

It should be unequivocally condemned.

There's no place in Australia for an outrage such as this. That is Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking to reporters a day after the

fire. Albanyazi echoed that message on Sunday after two gunmen opened fire during a Hanukkah celebration at the famous Bandai beach, killing or wounding dozens of people.

My message to Jewish Australians is that your fellow Australians stand with you tonight in condemning this act of terror, in condemning this outrage.

There is no place for this hate, violence, and terrorism in our nation.

In the two years since October 7th, Australia has seen a sharp rise in anti-Jewish incidents, more than 3,700. That's according to an advocacy group,

the Executive Council of Australian Jury. And the pace of incidents during that period was five

times what it was in the decade before Hamas attacked Israel. Here's the Prime Minister

speaking with Australian Broadcasting Corporation Sarah Ferguson

on Monday. Had you imagined an event like this taking place in Australia?

I certainly had not. You know, I'd like to say I was surprised, but really I wasn't.

Jamie Heimms, Director of Public Affairs for the Australia, Israel and Jewish Affairs Council.

Heim's, like many other members of the Jewish community in Australia,

knew an event like this could happen.

The Jewish community here has been warning our government and our authorities

for two years now that something like this was almost likely to happen

because of these upsurgeon anti- upsurge in anti-Semitism

...