{"id":2510630,"date":"2026-07-21T08:18:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T08:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2510630"},"modified":"2026-07-21T08:18:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T08:18:37","slug":"adass-israel-synagogue-community-to-address-royal-commission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/adass-israel-synagogue-community-to-address-royal-commission\/","title":{"rendered":"Adass Israel Synagogue community to address royal commission"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion will today hear evidence from the community of a Melbourne synagogue gutted in a firebombing that Australia&#8217;s spy agency alleges was orchestrated by the Iranian government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Early-morning worshippers fled the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne&#8217;s inner-south-east when the deliberately lit fire tore through the building in December 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Three people have since been charged over the fire, which the <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-06-24\/spy-chief-defends-resourcing-decisions-warns-of-threats\/106838338\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/106838338\">Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) alleges<\/a> was ordered by Iran&#8217;s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">This week, the royal commission hearings in Melbourne have primarily focused on security arrangements for the Jewish community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Today, the Adass Israel Synagogue community is expected to give evidence to the commission on the impact of the firebombing on the community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The synagogue is not expected to reopen for years as a result of the significant damage done to the building by the fire, which also damaged priceless Torah scrolls.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL ContentAlignment_outdentDesktop__ijbiK Figure_figure__xLyBy Figure_docImage__DSvk4\" data-print=\"inline-media\" data-component=\"Figure\" id=\"106937444\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/106937444\">\n<div class=\"Figure_content__8xRH4\">\n<div class=\"FigureContent_content__GnImC\">\n<div class=\"ContentImage_ratio__0yYeG\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatio_container__FC_XH\" style=\"--aspect-ratio:1.5\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"Figure_caption__fS2lN\" data-component=\"Figure__figcaption\">\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Torah scrolls were damaged in the arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne&#8217;s south-east in December 2024.<!-- --> <cite>(<span>Supplied<\/span>)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The scrolls were contained in a fireproof safe, which was installed after an arson attack on the same synagogue in 1995.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">While the safe <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2024-12-11\/melb-synagogue-terror-attack-fire-adass-israel-torah-scrolls\/104705852\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/104705852\">offered some protection during the 2024 blaze,<\/a> radiant heat and water from dousing the fire caused damage to the delicate parchment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the royal commission in January following Australia&#8217;s worst terror attack in which 15 people were killed at a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach in December 2025.<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"EmbedBlock\">\n<div data-component=\"Tracking\">\n<aside aria-labelledby=\"abc-_R_mhhf79aum_\" class=\"RecirculationRecommendations_container__7nH0U\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/dynamiccollection\/106619612\" data-component=\"RecirculationRecommendations\">\n<h2 class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP RecirculationRecommendations_title__2J5c2 Typography_sizeMobile24__GzKLB Typography_sizeDesktop32__LR_G6 Typography_lineHeightMobile28__58YCp Typography_lineHeightDesktop36__PAEA8 Typography_bold__FqafP Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" id=\"abc-_R_mhhf79aum_\" data-component=\"Typography\">More on the royal commission<\/h2>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP Heading_heading__VGa5B heading_heading__kjfxC Heading_default__Z3p_p Typography_sizeMobile20__NUDn4 Typography_sizeDesktop32__LR_G6 Typography_lineHeightMobile24__crkfh Typography_lineHeightDesktop40__BuoRf Typography_marginBottomMobileSmall__6wx7m Typography_marginBottomDesktopSmall__CboX4 Typography_bold__FqafP Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx Typography_normalise__u5o1s\" data-component=\"Heading\">Security arrangements in the spotlight<\/h2>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">This week, the royal commission is focusing on security arrangements for the Jewish community, the role of law enforcement agencies and emergency preparedness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Much of yesterday&#8217;s hearing focused on Jewish security organisation Community Security Group, which told the commission the cost of its operations had tripled amid a rise in antisemitic incidents after October 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">A representative of the group said <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-07-20\/mark-dreyfus-gives-evidence-antisemitism-royal-commission\/106935698\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/106935698\">he had major concerns about the sustainability of the operation<\/a>, which works closely with police but was funded mainly through philanthropic and community support.<\/p>\n<div class=\"EmphasisedText_emphasisedText__McMdj ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL\" data-component=\"EmphasisedText\">\n<blockquote class=\"EmphasisedText_quote__TE6kn\"><p>&#8220;The pressure has been immense on all our staff and our volunteers,&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"EmphasisedText_attribution__L6Ebw\"> <!-- --> he said.<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;We ask more of them now than we ever have.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Jason Steinberg from the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies told the inquiry that identifying what did and did not count as antisemitism had been a challenge for police in his state <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-03-05\/qld-hate-speech-laws-passed-parliament\/106420306\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/106420306\">before recent changes around hate speech laws<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;It&#8217;s easy to understand right-wing extremism: it&#8217;s a Nazi salute, it&#8217;s a swastika,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"ContentAlignment_marginBottom__4H_6E ContentAlignment_overflowAuto__c1_IL ContentAlignment_outdentDesktop__ijbiK Figure_figure__xLyBy Figure_docImage__DSvk4\" data-print=\"inline-media\" data-component=\"Figure\" id=\"106937724\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/106937724\">\n<div class=\"Figure_content__8xRH4\">\n<div class=\"FigureContent_content__GnImC\">\n<div class=\"ContentImage_ratio__0yYeG\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatio_container__FC_XH\" style=\"--aspect-ratio:1.5\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A man with glasses smiling \" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\" sizes=\"100vw\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/409e445071493f2fcd48f17f4b4bc326?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=2744&amp;cropW=4117&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=1&amp;width=862&amp;height=575\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"Figure_caption__fS2lN\" data-component=\"Figure__figcaption\">\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Jason Steinberg is on the Jewish Board of Deputies and established the Queensland Holocaust Museum.<!-- --> <cite>(<span>ABC News: Mark Leonardi<\/span>)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;But without that, the other levels of antisemitism of attacking Queenslanders as being genocidal terrorists, for example, in public, is not so easy to identify for police.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;Our community has felt vulnerable because the police haven&#8217;t been acting on that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The inquiry is expected to hear from police agencies in several states, a counterterrorism expert and a senior bureaucrat from the Department of Home Affairs as hearings continue this week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.abc.net.au \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion will today hear evidence from the community of a Melbourne synagogue gutted in a firebombing that Australia&#8217;s spy agency alleges was orchestrated by the Iranian government. Early-morning worshippers fled the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne&#8217;s inner-south-east when the deliberately lit fire tore through the building in December [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2510631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[495210,458926,469361],"class_list":["post-2510630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-adass-israel-synagogue","tag-jewish-community","tag-royal-commission-on-antisemitism-and-social-cohesion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Adass-Israel-Synagogue-community-to-address-royal-commission.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2510630"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2510632,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510630\/revisions\/2510632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2510631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2510630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2510630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2510630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}