A car has been set on fire and up to a dozen others vandalised with anti-Israel graffiti overnight, in a shocking attack in a leafy Sydney suburb.
Emergency services were called to a car alight on Wellington Street in Woollahra about 12.35am on Thursday.
Fire and Rescue NSW were able to extinguish the fire but police then found up to a dozen cars graffitied with anti-Israel messages.
Multiple cars were covered in white spray paint that read ‘f**k Israel’.
The cars had been parked along Wellington Steet, Tara Street, Fullerton Street and Ocean Street.
The door of a unit complex in Ocean Street, as well as the popular Sydney restaurant Chiswick, were also both spray painted with the anti-Israel slogans.
Chiswick is co-owned by celebrity chef Matt Moran and Elliot Solomon, the Jewish CEO of Solotel Group.
Daily Mail understands the Emanuel Synagogue, located just up the road on Ocean St, is currently reviewing its security.
The letters ‘PKK’ were also seen on multiple cars and the windows of Chiswick.
PKK could refer to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party which some countries, including , have designated a terrorist organisation.
n Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory told Daily Mail the government has not taken its concerns seriously.
‘It is absolutely shocking to see political violence like this play out in the streets of ,’ he said.
‘There is no justification for targeting Jews and other ns over a conflict on the other side of the world.
‘Labor has looked on as an increasingly violent anti-Israel movement has taken over n streets. The Jewish community has been begging authorities to take this seriously.
‘Many feel that Labor refuses to act because it is too focused on winning votes in Western Sydney.
‘When ns are being prevented from taking their children to see the Myer Christmas windows or told to stay at home for their own safety because the Opera House steps were taken over by an anti-Semitic mob, it’s clear we have a problem.
‘It’s time for decent ns to reclaim our streets from this ‘Free Palestine’ hate movement,’ he said.
Co-CEO of the Executive Council of n Jewry Alex Ryvchin agreed there have been a growing number of anti-Israel incidents in Sydney.
‘The anti-Israel movement has been growing progressively more extreme, more violent and indifferent to who it harms,’ he said.
‘It wasn’t stopped at the Opera House steps. It wasn’t stopped at pro-Hamas encampments. And it wasn’t stopped at the hate preachers.
‘Now ns are waking up to find their property destroyed and their suburbs violated.’
Dr Dvir Abramovich from the Anti-Defamation Commission said the ‘cowardly’ attack was a ‘frontal assault on our values and on decency’ and would only ‘ignite the resolve’ of the Jewish community.
‘This hate crime is the direct result of the unrelenting incitement against Israel and the explosion of anti-Semitism we are witnessing around the nation.
‘Words have real-world consequences, and this is proof of what happens when rhetoric becomes violence.
‘To those responsible, hear this: your hatred has no place here. You may think you can silence us with fire and venom, but you’ve only ignited our resolve.
‘The Jewish community has faced darkness before, and each time we have risen stronger,’ he said.
At least half a dozen cars were damaged by the spray paint
NSW Police confirmed they are investigating.
‘The graffiti is of a political nature,’ a police spokesperson said.
‘Officers from Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command have established crime scenes which are being examined by specialist police.’
Anyone who has knowledge of the incidents, or who was in the area last night and may have seen something, is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.