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Australian billboard advertising synagogue event torched

The Melbourne ad promoted an event with the president and founder of United Hatzalah of Israel at a local synagogue.

A billboard in Australia promoting an event with an Israeli volunteer emergency medical service was torched on Tuesday night. Credit: Australian Jewish Association, April 29, 2026.
A billboard in Australia promoting an event with an Israeli volunteer emergency medical service was torched on Tuesday night. Credit: Australian Jewish Association, April 29, 2026.

A billboard in Australia promoting an event involving an Israeli volunteer emergency medical service was torched on Tuesday night.

The Melbourne sign advertised an event with the president and founder of United Hatzalah of Israel at a local synagogue.

“This is the reality for Jews in Melbourne in 2026,” the Australian Jewish Association posted on X.

The Jewish group had partnered with both organizations.

The vandalism was the latest in a rash of antisemitic incidents that have shaken Australia since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

Last week, a joint Jewish-Greek choral concert in Australia, intended to raise money for the victims of the Bondi Beach massacre, was abruptly canceled after Greek choir members voted against performing with Jews.

About 110,000 Jews live in Australia, primarily in Melbourne and Sydney.

“It can’t just be business as usual,” Evan R. Bernstein told JNS. “We’re not done yet.”
Abd al-Rahman intended to carry out the attack “in the immediate time frame.”
Charlotte Knobloch, who leads the city’s Jewish community, canceled her attendance at a book launch following the incident.
The Charedi Public Party says it will protect full-time Torah study while supporting military or national service for ultra-Orthodox men who are not studying in yeshivahs, address math and English instruction in haredi schools.