Anthony Albanese pressured to convene National Cabinet over rising scourge of violent, anti-Semitic acts

A vitriolic and violent early morning attack, being investigated as a targeted act against a prominent Jewish figure, has sparked a debate about whether Australia must treat the exponential rise in anti-Semitism as “terrorism”.

Less than a day after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed hope the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal would lower the domestic temperature, the Dover Heights former home of Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin was vandalised, two cars were firebombed, including one graffitied with “f**k Jews”, and two others were damaged.

Mr Albanese — who is facing increased pressure from ECAJ, his hand-picked anti-Semitism envoy, and the Coalition to urgently convene a national cabinet meeting to deal with the crisis — condemned the act as an “outrage”.

Police are investigating whether it was a targeted attack, but both NSW Premier Chris Minns and Mr Ryvchin acknowledged it would be a “massive coincidence” if it wasn’t.

“It might be the world’s biggest coincidence if of all the houses in all the streets of this neighbourhood, they hit my former home by accident,” Mr Ryvchin said outside his former home.

Mr Minns — describing those responsible as “animals” — said police were also investigating whether to deem the incident an act of terror, and his Government stood ready to hand over extra powers if need be.

The latest attack came as the Federal Government unveiled its counter-terrorism strategy and pledged $106.2 million to fight radicalisation; and as Mr Ryvchin and the Opposition demanded the rising scourge in anti-Semitism be recognised as a “campaign of domestic terrorism”.

Mr Ryvchin said while police would determine the full facts, he believed the “evil” act of violence had been ideologically motivated.

“I think it meets any modern standard of terrorism. I think the people who have been doing these acts over and over again are driven by hatred, they’re driven by an extreme political ideology, and they’re targeting civilians,” he said.

“By my account, they’re terrorists.”

David Ossip, from the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, said it was time to call out the exponential rise in anti-Semitism “for what this is”.

“It’s a campaign of domestic terrorism targeted at the Jewish community, which is intended to intimidate, harass and menace our community,” he said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton shared his view, saying those responsible for anti-Semitic attacks “aren’t hoons, but terrorists” emboldened by weak political leadership.

“These people . . . are targeting people to intimidate them, to scare them. They’ve got armed guards now at Jewish schools and synagogues, and the threat against the community is real,” he said.

But Michael Zekulin, a researcher in terrorism, counter-terrorism and radicalisation at the Australian National University, said it was important to keep the definition narrow.

“For me, there is one criteria that distinguishes something as terrorism from something else like a biased crime or a hate crime or things of that nature, and that’s the motivation behind the act,” he told The Nightly.

“Is the individual defacing synagogues because they personally dislike or are mistrustful of Jewish people and therefore have a personal reason, or is there something larger and more ideological going on?

“When we talk about terrorism, the motivation has to be more than personal, it’s more altruistic. (Terrorists) are trying to enact political, ideological or social change and are part of something bigger . . . They have a grandiose plan or strategy.

“The academic perspective is we don’t want to broaden the definition of terrorism, which is actually still very, very rare.”

Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the Dover Heights attack “removed all remaining doubt” about what Australia was witnessing.

“What we have is a campaign of domestic terrorism targeting the Jewish community,” he said.

“One or two isolated events might be something, but we have now had dozens of serious events like this which involve violent acts, including arson.

“And unlike our Home Affairs Minister (Tony Burke), who thinks this is just a criminal matter, I think this is a matter of national security, and I think this is a matter of terrorism. And the people who are responsible for this terrorist campaign need to be found, arrested, charged, and be convicted of terrorism offences to demonstrate the gravity with which we take the issue.”

Mr Burke on Friday drew a direct line “between bigotry, between hate speech and between violence”, and conceded there were fringe groups — including extreme pro-Palestinian activists, disaffected members of the Islamic community, and white supremacists — feeling “emboldened” to launch extremist attacks.

He said those responsible for the hate crime would feel “the full force of the law”, as he unveiled the Government’s strategy to deal with the evolving counter-terrorism strategies to fight violent extremism in a “dynamic and evolving” environment.

Last year, ASIO raised Australia’s terror threat level from possible to probable, warning that people were being radicalised at a faster — and younger — rate, and that terror acts were likely to occur with little to no warning.

The security agency has also warned about the confluence of ideologies, with Mr Burke acknowledging an emerging trend of people who “no longer have a set ideology” or have “mixed ideologies”.

“That has meant that as the threat level has evolved, the government’s response needs to evolve as well,” Mr Burke said on Friday.

The strategy says young people are particularly vulnerable to being radicalised, requiring greater resourcing of early intervention programs that encompass all parts of society, including law enforcement, health services, education providers, and community services.

The strategy, agreed to by states, will establish a national support and intervention program, and roll out nationally NSW’s Step Together program to support people if someone they know shows signs of radicalisation.

Dr Zekulin said while it was commendable the Government had taken a “step in the right direction” to deal with the evolving threats, he warned there was no “silver bullet”.

He pointed to the difficulties with deradicalising people who did not want to engage with programs, and said there was a risk that people could “overcompensate” in their concerns about friends or family which could lead to services being inundated.

He also said there was only so much Governments could do without the help of tech platforms.

“There is no one solution. But do I think the Government has done the right thing? Yes, but there’s only so much they can do,” he said.

“There is not an easy fix. It’s complicated.”