A firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne has been officially declared a terrorist attack as police chiefs reveal they are keeping an eye on three suspects.
Victoria Police Commissioner Shane Patton said on Monday that detectives were hunting three people they believe are behind the attack on Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue, in the city’s southeastern suburb of Ripponlea.
The decision to officially label the attack as an act of terror follows the release of images showing the destruction of the synagogue.
It is believed three masked trespassers set fire to the building early last Friday morning as worshipers arrived for morning prayers on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
The damage from the attack is estimated at millions, with the synagogue almost completely destroyed.
Photographers were given access to the building on Monday morning, with images of the burnt-out destruction inside.
Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the fire appeared to be “politically motivated”.
“We will not tolerate crimes that undermine Australia’s security or our way of life,” she said.
Total carnage: Inside Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue
Images from Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue emerged on Monday
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan told reporters the attack had been declared terrorism and allowed greater powers and resources for the investigation.
“What this means is… that additional resources can now be dedicated to this investigation, an investigation that I know we will be looking at…” [to have] resolved as quickly as possible,” Ms Allan said.
“We need to let our police officers do the work, the good work they did to get us to this point this morning.”
The investigation will now be transferred to the Joint Counter Terrorism Team.
The declaration opens up a range of additional powers for investigators, including the ability to stop, search and seize people without a warrant, and to stop and question those they believe they know of or are connected to with the attack.
Two of the synagogue’s three buildings were destroyed in the fire that broke out in the early hours of Friday.
Two people who were inside as they prepared for morning prayers escaped, with one suffering minor injuries.
Jewish Community Council of Victoria CEO Naomi Levin said she had been told five Torah scrolls, handwritten copies of the Book of Moses used during prayers, will not be recovered.
Synagogue members retrieve items from the Adass Israel Synagogue on December 6
A man is seen reading a message left on the fence of the Adass Israel Synagogue after a firebomb attack
“The information obtained at that joint management committee meeting has given the impression that this is likely a terrorist incident that has occurred,” Patton said Monday.
“We are treating this as a terrorist attack.”
Mr Patton defended that he had not made the terrorist declaration earlier.
“Based on the assessment at the time that there was a crime scene, albeit under certain circumstances and based on a synagogue, it was considered that this was not sufficient to establish the threshold for establishing a terrorist attack,” he said.
“We’ve been investigating this weekend and we’ve made significant progress.”
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan had also come under fire after refusing to label the attack as a terrorist attack.
Addressing reporters just after midday, Ms Allan described it as a ‘malicious anti-Semitic (terrorist) attack’.
“This was a terrible, evil, anti-Semitic attack and now we know it has been confirmed as an attack, a terrorist attack,” she said.
Adass Israel Synagogue congregation member Sam on Monday
Sky News presenter Sharri Markson was given access to the torched synagogue
Mr Patton said police have no indication that further terrorist attacks will take place, but did not rule anything out.
“We have deployed between 20 and 30 additional police officers in those areas where large numbers of Jewish persons live and congregate, we have our public audit response teams there, we have high police visibility,” he said.
Sky News presenter Sharri Markson gained access to the torched synagogue on Monday and beamed disturbing images from inside.
‘You can’t see the extent of the damage until you go inside. It is completely destroyed. A room that was once filled with studying, praying people and children and families. It has been destroyed,” she told News Day host Kieran Gilbert.
Ms Markson further described it as ‘heartbreaking’ to see hundreds of prayer books damaged or completely burned to ashes and the lingering smell was ‘so thick’.
The Sky News presenter compared it to the scenes on the kibbutz in Israel, where houses were torched and burned down by Hamas terrorists on October 7 last year.
“And now we’ve seen that here in Australia. It was truly devastating and absolutely a shock to the system,” she said.