Members of the Synagogue recover items from the Adass Israel Synagogue on December 06, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday linked an arson attack on a synagogue in Australia to what he called Canberra’s “anti-Israel sentiment”.

The police in the Australian city of Melbourne said mask-wearing arsonists attacked a synagogue before dawn on Friday. They were still searching for the suspects and said they did not know why the premises had been targeted.

In a statement, Mr. Netanyahu said that “this heinous act cannot be separated from the anti-Israel sentiment emanating from the Australian Labor government.”

He cited Canberra’s “outrageous decision” to vote for a United Nations General Assembly resolution that demanded the end of Israel’s “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

Mr. Netanyahu argued that “anti-Israel sentiment is anti-Semitism”.

Australia’s was among 157 votes in favour of the resolution on December 3, after it abstained in a similar vote in September.

No serious injuries were reported in the fire which gutted much of the synagogue building. Congregants were only beginning to gather for morning prayers as the attack took place, a board member said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said federal police would help their state counterparts to investigate. He condemned the attack and said he had “zero tolerance” for anti-Semitism.

“This violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is an outrage,” he said in a statement.

Mr. Netanyahu called the attack “a vile, classic anti-Semitic act, and I expect the authorities in Australia to use the full extent of their power to prevent such anti-Semitic attacks in the future”.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on November 1 he will raise the plight of a detained democracy blogger with Chinese leaders during a state visit to China.

Mr. Albanese said he had approved a draft letter to the sons of Yang Hengjun, who has been detained in China since 2019.

“We’re very sympathetic and understand the concerns that they would have for their father and for this Australian who has been detained now for a long period of time,” Mr. Albanese told reporters.

The sons have made public a letter to Mr. Albanese, dated October 28, that said there was a “narrow window of opportunity” before Mr. Albanese left for China to secure their father’s freedom.

“We ask that you make it clear that it is not possible to stabilise the bilateral relationship with a government that is holding an Australian citizen just a few kilometres south of where you will be hosted,” the brothers added, referring to Beijing.

They said they had just last week received the first letter Yang had been allowed to send from detention. Yang wrote: “I’m sick, I’m weak, I’m dying.” Yang, who once worked for China’s Ministry of State Security, is still awaiting a verdict from his closed-door trial on espionage charges in May 2021.

His sons are 24 and 31 years old. Family friend Feng Chongyi said the sons had not been publicly identified because they feared Chinese retaliation for their father’s activities. Feng said Mr. Albanese becoming the first Australian Prime Minister in seven years to visit China created an opportunity for Yang.

“It’s not the last chance, but it’s the best chance,” Feng said. “The visit symbolises the complete normalisation of relations between the two countries.” Mr. Albanese’s visit that begins on Saturday is a sign that bilateral relations have improved since his centre-left government was elected last year following nine years of conservative rule.

Mr. Albanese will meet with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing and attend the China International Import Expo in Shanghai during the three-day visit.

Mr. Albanese raised the plights of Yang and another detained Australian, journalist Cheng Lei, in his first meeting with Xi on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Indonesia a year ago. Cheng was deported last month in what many saw as Beijing clearing the way for Mr. Albanese’s visit.

Yang’s sons wrote that said they had been “inspired by the wonderful news” of Cheng’s release. They hoped Australian authorities could “achieve a second miracle by saving our father”. Asked about Cheng’s case, Mr. Albanese told reporters: “Every case is … different.”