A 20-year-old man has been charged in Australia over his alleged role in the December 2024 arson attack on Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue, which Australian authorities say was carried out at Iran’s direction.
The man, whose name was not released, was one of three masked suspects who broke into the synagogue in the early morning hours of Dec. 6, 2024, poured flammable liquid inside and set it on fire, police said.
CCTV footage of the December 2024 arson attack on Melbourne's Adass Israel Synagogue
The blaze caused extensive damage to the synagogue, and two worshippers were lightly injured from smoke inhalation.
Australia’s counterterrorism unit charged the man with offenses including arson. According to The Associated Press, he is already being held in a Melbourne prison on unrelated offenses, which police declined to detail.
Another suspect, Giovanni Laulu, 21, was arrested in July last year. A third suspect, Younes Ali Younes, 20, was arrested a month later.
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Suspects seen setting fire to Melbourne's Adass Israel Synagogue
(Photo: Melbourne Police Department)
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last year accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of directing the synagogue arson, as well as an arson attack two months earlier at a kosher restaurant in Sydney.
Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, said the IRGC used “a complex web of proxies” to conceal its involvement in the two antisemitic attacks. Australia later expelled Iran’s ambassador and three other Iranian diplomats. Tehran denied the allegations.
Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Peter Crozier told reporters Friday that investigators were working with international partners as part of the ongoing investigation. Police are also examining whether the three alleged arsonists knew who was behind the synagogue attack.
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Damage inside Melbourne's Adass Israel Synagogue following the arson attack, alongside a Torah scroll removed from the site
(Photo: Tania LEE / AFP, Sky News Australia)
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Paul O’Halloran said police informed the local Jewish community of the third arrest before making the announcement public.
“Our heart goes out to them. Again, this brings back this terrible incident,” O’Halloran said. “People deserve the right to feel safe and be safe in their community and particularly at their place of worship. Today’s charges are a strong testament to this.”