An Australian Jewish community leader was the target of a vandalism attack in a Sydney suburb in January, the New South Wales Police Force confirmed for the first time on Thursday, after charging the alleged mastermind behind the attack and announcing a continued search for additional persons of interest.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin’s former home was splashed with paint, two nearby cars were set ablaze, and others were graffitied with antisemitic slogans on January 17. Still, until Thursday, it was only suspected that Ryvchin was the target.
“Police believe the former resident of the home was the intended target of the attack,” the NSW Police said in a statement.
Additionally, authorities were seeking other men that “they believe may be able to assist with their inquiries,” releasing CCTV footage on Thursday of two men in a hatchback vehicle.
Four men already charged in incident
Four men have already been charged for their alleged roles in the incident, including accused mastermind Tarek Zahabe. He was charged on July 17 for his role in orchestrating the January 20 arson and vandalization of a Maroubra kindergarten, the January 29 vandalization of the Maroubra Mount Sinai College Jewish school, and the January 10 vandalization of the Southern Sydney Synagogue.
The 27-year-old had allegedly directed Kye Pickering to deface the house of worship with slogans including “Hitler on top” and “free Palestine.” The 26-year-old alleged accomplice was charged on June 26.
In February, a 37-year-old man was arrested and charged at a correctional facility for his role as an accessory to the Dover Heights incident targeting Ryvchin. The man was also a suspect, along with a 33-year-old man arrested the same day at the correctional facility, for their role in the January 11 vandalism and attempted arson of the Newtown Synagogue.
Two men had previously been arrested in relation to the Mount Sinai College incident, allegedly directed by Zahabe, and were presumably part of a criminal network orchestrating a series of antisemitic incidents across the state.
A 40-year-old Penshurst man was arrested and charged as a suspect for the January 29 incident during a March 10 simultaneous police raid that apprehended several people connected to the network. A 41-year-old Eastlakes man was arrested on March 13 and charged on March 20 for his role in vandalizing the Jewish school and a nearby home. The men were also suspected of defacing an Eastgardens shopping center and an Eastlakes home.
The March raids came as the NSW police and the Australian Federal Police revealed on March 10 that over 15 incidents were not motivated by antisemitism, but designed to distract police from other criminal endeavors. The criminals also allegedly sought to reduce their criminal sentences in return for helping law enforcement with faux terrorist plots that they orchestrated, including the Dural explosive-filled caravan incident.
The “con job” theory was brought into question on August 26 when the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) alleged that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible for at least two antisemitic arson attacks in Australia – one of which was the October 20 Lewis’ Continental Kitchen arson attack in Sydney.
The kosher eatery’s arson had previously been connected to the supposed “con job” network, with two men arrested for the attack in the March 10 crime ring sweep. Alleged mastermind Sayed Moosawi had supposedly contracted the men to conduct the arson after two others had presumably mistakenly set fire to a similarly named business.
ASIO had related in a press briefing with Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, that Iran had used criminal proxies to conduct antisemitic arsons in the country, and it was likely that the Islamic Republic was responsible for more incidents.
The Dover Heights attack occurred amid a spate of antisemitic arson- and graffiti-related attacks on vehicles, synagogues, and homes in the Sydney area.