A shocking new theory has emerged about who is financing the spate of anti-Semitic attacks plaguing Australia.
The authorities are investigating if locals have been paid to carry out acts of anti-Semitic violence by people overseas, as national leaders agree to establish a database of attacks.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said the force was probing 15 serious attacks since December and was considering whether overseas actors or individuals paid local criminals to carry out some of the crimes.
‘We are looking at if – or how – they have been paid, for example in cryptocurrency, which can take longer to identify,’ he said.
The Only About Children centre in Maroubra, in Sydney’s east, was set on fire soon after midnight on Tuesday and the words ‘F*** the Jews’ were sprayed in black paint on a wall.
The blaze was put out but the building was extensively damaged. There were no reports of injuries and the property was empty at the time.
Police believe the attack may have targeted the wrong property as there is a synagogue 150 metres further down Anzac Parade, and the damaged child care centre had no connection to it.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the attack as an ‘evil hate crime’.
A Sydney childcare centre was set ablaze in a suspected anti-Semitic attack (pictured)
It is the latest in a string of anti-Semitic arson and graffiti incidents in the city’s east, home to a large Jewish community.
‘We are looking into whether any young people are involved in carrying out some of these crimes, and if they have been radicalised online and encouraged to commit anti-Semitic acts,’ Commissioner Kershaw said.
‘Regardless, it all points to the same motivation: demonising and intimidating the Jewish community.’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese bowed to pressure for stronger action and convened a national cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon, with leaders agreeing to establish a national database of anti-Semitic incidents.
About 200 people descended on NSW Parliament House hours after the latest attack, calling for the state government to step in and do more.
Mr Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns, who both attended the burnt site earlier in the day, pledged to throw all necessary resources at tracking down those responsible.
‘This is a place for children and families and it should never have been denigrated by this despicable and horrifying crime,’ Mr Albanese told reporters.
The federal government will subsidise fees and worker costs at the childcare centre and along with the NSW government will cover any repair costs not covered by insurance.

A police officer is pictured checking under a car at the scene of a fire at a childcare centre in Maroubra, Sydney on Tuesday
Rabbi Zalman Goldstein from the Maroubra Synagogue said his community would hold a special service on Tuesday evening to greet the dark events with ‘light, peace and love’.
‘I’m saddened this can happen in Maroubra, a very peaceful, very beautiful place where people move to with their young families,’ he told AAP.
‘But Jewish people are not scared, we are very resilient … we’ve been through things like this in much worse ways and we hope we can be a message for other minority groups to stay strong.’
Mr Minns decried the attack, saying ‘these bastards will be rounded up by NSW Police’.
But the Premier was forced to defend his state’s handling of the crisis and his rhetoric, given his stronger language has been matched with an increase to the rate of attacks.
He said a police strike force targeting anti-Semitic crimes had made more than 180 arrests and charged at least 10 people since October 2023.
An additional 20 investigators have been tasked to the strike force, NSW Police Force Commissioner Karen Webb said on Tuesday.
The latest incident comes as the nation’s Jewish community reels from a vandalism and arson attack on the former home of Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief Alex Ryvchin early on Friday.

Members of the Jewish community and supporters gather for a protest rally against rising anti-Semitism, at Martin Place in Sydney on Tuesday
The house was defaced with slurs and red paint, and cars were set alight outside.
‘There is an evil at work in this country and we have to recognise that,’ Mr Ryvchin told reporters on Friday.
‘There are people who are so consumed by hatred that they would seek to burn people because they disagree with their words.
‘How we respond to things like this will determine the future of our country.’
Mr Ryvchin said the attack ‘meets a modern standard of terrorism’.
‘To my fellow Australians I want to say, don’t be silent, find your voice, speak up. We are not a nation of bystanders.
‘What defines our national ethos is that we stand up for each other, we speak up for each other: we are upstanders, not bystanders.
‘And in this critical time we need each of you to stand up and condemn this wickedness.’
Dr Max Kaiser, executive officer of the the Jewish Council of Australia, also condemned the wave of attacks in recent weeks.
‘It is clear that anti-Semitic attacks are escalating in Australia, combined with Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism,’ he said.
‘Now, more than ever, we remain committed to advocating for a society where diversity is celebrated, and all individuals and communities can live without fear of discrimination or violence.’
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