A Tuesday news conference by state officials marked the first official confirmation of the suspects' suspected ideologies, with the Australian PM revealing that evidence from the scene included Islamic State flags. The New South Wales Police chief suggested a possible link between them and Muslim militant groups in the Philippines
Israel's prime minister also said 'antisemitism is a cancer that spreads when leaders are silent,' in response to the attack that killed at least 15 people at a Hannukah event. Diaspora minister Chikli said the Australian government bore the 'sole responsibility' for the attack after failing to act decisively against antisemitism
Ties have soured since Australia last week decided to conditionally recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, and after Netanyahu called his Australian counterpart a 'weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews'
Australian police said earlier this week that they could not rule out further arrests and believed that the arson attack had been orchestrated from abroad. Police also said a string of antisemitic attacks in Sydney last year was the work of a criminal gang
According to a study of Australian universities, 91 antisemitic incidents were reported on campuses in the first semester of 2024, just in the state of Victoria. Only 11 incidents were recorded on university campuses in 2023, nine of which were after October 7, with only one incident in all of 2022
Mohammad Sharab, an anti-Israel activist involved in the February kidnapping of an Australian man, was seen wearing the Hamas emblem at a rally in Melbourne.
During an anti-Israel protest in the Australian city of Adelaide on Sunday, protesters pushed an Australian man who filmed the rally and tried to get past the march