Australian police arrest suspect in December arson attack on Melbourne synagogue
The arson attack came amid a sharp escalation in antisemitic violence in the country
Congregants recover items from the Adass Israel Synagogue on December 06, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images
(JTA) — Australian police have arrested one of the three men suspected in an arson attack on a haredi Orthodox synagogue in Melbourne last December that destroyed the building and injured one person.
Giovanni Laulu, 21, of Melbourne, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion that he had set fire to the Adass Israel Synagogue, an incident that came amid an alarming string of antisemitic incidents in the area.
“I want to reassure Victorians, particularly those in the Jewish community, that we remain relentless in our pursuit in finding all those responsible for this crime and holding them to account,” Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Wendy Steendam told reporters.
Laulu was charged with arson, reckless conduct endangering life and car theft and will appear in court next on Aug. 6.
Two weeks ago, another 20-year-old man was charged with stealing the car used in the synagogue attack, but he has not been accused of being one of the masked men that ignited the synagogue.
The incident is being investigated as a terrorist attack. Police said this week that they could not rule out further arrests and believed that the attack had been orchestrated from abroad. A string of antisemitic attacks in Sydney last year were the work of a criminal gang, police said.
Earlier this month, a different synagogue in Melbourne suffered an arson attack while more than 20 Jews were gathered for a Shabbat dinner inside, and more than 20 people stormed an outpost of the Miznon chain owned by the Israeli chef Eyal Shani. A man was arrested in the arson incident.
