Australian police find explosives they suspect are part of an antisemitic plot
Australian police find explosives they suspect are part of an antisemitic plot
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Australian police suspect explosives stashed on Sydney’s outskirts were evidence of a deadly escalation in a campaign of antisemitic arson and graffiti crimes that has been waged in major cities for months, officials said on Wednesday. Police found a list of Jewish targets together with a cache of Powergel, an explosive used in the mining industry, in a trailer in the outer suburb of Dural on Jan. 19, New South Wales state Deputy Police Commissioner David Hudson said.
Hudson said there were enough explosives to make a bomb with a blast of 40 meters (130 feet). “This is certainly an escalation,” Hudson told reporters, referring to a recent series of antisemitic crimes in Sydney, where businesses and cars have been torched and buildings graffitied.
“The use of explosives ... have the potential to cause a great deal of damage,” he added. Hudson declined to identify the potential Jewish targets. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to nominate the targets. I can indicate that the Jewish community will be made aware," Hudson said.
He said several suspects had been arrested who were not directly related to the explosives. Since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023, targeted arson and graffiti attacks have soared in Australia’s largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, which are home to 85% of the country’s Jewish population.
A worshipper who suffered burn injuries in a fire that was set at a Melbourne synagogue in December last year is the only human casualty. That arson attack is being investigated by a joint counterterrorism team involving federal and state law enforcment authorities.
