Australian police say anti-Semitic crimes may be funded overseas

Australia’s federal police have said they are investigating whether “foreign actors or individuals” are paying criminals to commit anti-Semitic crimes in the country.

There have been a number of such incidents in recent months, the latest of which was a Sydney childcare center set on fire and spray-painted with anti-Jewish graffiti. No one was injured.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an early cabinet meeting in response, where officials agreed to establish a national database to track anti-Semitic incidents.

So far, the federal police task force, created in December to investigate such incidents, has received more than 166 reports of anti-Semitic crimes.

“We are investigating whether foreign actors or individuals have paid local criminals in Australia to commit some of these crimes in our suburbs,” Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Reece Kershaw said, adding that cryptocurrencies may have been involved. .

The digital currency may take longer to identify, Kershaw said.

The commissioner said police were also investigating whether young people were committing these crimes and whether they had become radicalized online.

However, Kershaw warned, “intelligence is not the same as evidence” and more charges were expected soon.

Last week, a Sydney man became the first person to be charged by the federal task force, called Special Operation Avalite, over alleged death threats he made against a Jewish organisation.

Mr Albanese said Tuesday’s incident at a daycare center in the eastern Sydney suburb of Maroubra was “as cowardly as it was disgusting” and described it as a “hate crime”.

“This was an attack directed at the Jewish community. And it is a crime that concerns us all because it is also an attack on the nation and the society we have built together,” he wrote on social media.

The Jewish Council of Australia, set up last year to oppose anti-Semitism, said it “strongly condemns” this and all similar incidents.

“These acts underscore the urgent need for cooperation, education and community dialogue to combat prejudice and promote understanding,” he said in a statement.

Most of the recent incidents have taken place in Sydney and have involved anti-Semitic graffiti, arson and vandalism of buildings, including synagogues.

New South Wales has set up its own state-level task force to address these incidents and so far 36 people have been charged with offenses related to anti-Semitism.

A further 70 arrests have been made for similar offenses in the neighboring state of Victoria, where Last month a synagogue burned down.