A man has been charged with allegedly making threatening gestures near a synagogue in Sydney’s north.
NSW Police said on Tuesday the 20-year-old was arrested at a home in North Turramurra at 11pm on Monday and taken to Hornsby Police Station where he was charged with stalk/intimidate intend fear physical etc harm (personal).
Police allege he made a gun gesture with his fingers towards a man walking along Link Road, St Ives, at about 12.30pm on Saturday, before the car continued driving and the man allegedly made the same gesture at another man outside a place of worship.
There are two synagogues on that road, Chabad North Shore and the Kehillat Masada Synagogue, and it’s believed the second man was leaving Chabad North Shore.
The man was granted conditional bail and will face court again on January 29.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese commented on the arrest on Tuesday, saying “that’s good that someone’s been charged, as they should be”.
“Anyone making a threat such as that, action should be taken. And that’s a good thing by, I assume, the NSW Police,” he said.
“People who engage in activity designed to divide the community and driven by hate of anti-Semitism should have the full force of the law thrown at them.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin told The Daily Telegraph the alleged incident showed Australia needed harsher laws to protect Jews.
“Australia is experiencing an anti-Semitic moment which is now rolling into 2025,” Mr Ryvchin said.
“Until there are severe consequences in terms of both the law and social exclusion for anti-Jewish racists, this will get worse and worse.”
Mr Ryvchin’s comments come after NSW Premier Chris Minns declared that he was prepared to restrict the rights of all Australians in order to protect multiculturalism following an alleged anti-Semitic graffiti attack in Sydney’s east in December
“We don’t have the free speech rules that they have in the United States, we’ve got strict interpretation of hate speech in this state, if that needs to go further in a legislative sense, that’s exactly what I’ll do,” he said.
“Because I think it’s my duty as premier of the state to protect what’s been built over successive decades, and that is a harmonious community. We just can’t put that in jeopardy because some horrific individuals decide to [allegedly] carry out anti-Semitic attacks on the streets of Sydney.
“I want to make it clear that if we need to change laws in the state when it comes to hate speech, that’s what we will do. And I don’t do that lightly, it is infringing on people’s rights, but we cannot have a situation where with impunity someone can walk down the street, sow division amongst different communities, and then gleefully go home, whilst the rest of us are left with the implications.”
Victoria is also bringing in new speech and protest laws as a result of lobbying from Jewish groups. Jewish community leaders then demanded the police jail protesters who held a rally against the proposed laws in Melbourne with a banner saying “Jews hate freedom”.
Header image: Chabad North Shore Synagogue (Facebook)
