Melbourne protesters chant ‘Death to the IDF’ days after attacks on local synagogue, Israeli restaurant

JTA – Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Melbourne, Australia, chanted, “Death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]!” at a rally last Sunday, 6 July, two days after a spate of violent attacks on Jewish targets including a synagogue and businesses with ties to Israel.

Local police ramped up their presence at the rally after the attacks last Friday night, 4 July, which included the arson of a synagogue while more than 20 Jews were gathered for a Shabbat dinner inside.

Police arrested one man in connection with the arson, which resulted in damage to the East Melbourne Synagogue building but no injuries. In addition to the arson, the second at a Melbourne synagogue in seven months, a weapons business was vandalised with anti-Israel graffiti, and more than 20 people stormed an outpost of the Miznon chain owned by the Israeli chef Eyal Shani, some shouting “Death to the IDF!” in the process.

The phrase has vaulted into prominence since punk band Bob Vylan chanted it at the Glastonbury Festival in England two weeks ago.

Both Miznon and the business, Lovitt Technologies, have been targets of Melbourne’s robust pro-Palestinian movement because of their ties to the Israeli military and its war in Gaza.

Lovitt Technologies works with the Israeli army, according to local media reports. And Shani’s business partner, Shahar Segal, was serving as a spokesperson for the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which the United States and Israel set up in recent months to deliver aid in Gaza. It has drawn criticism for exposing Palestinians to violence while they wait for food distributions. He announced on Instagram last Sunday that he had exited the position, which he said was always intended to be temporary.

The synagogue arson ignited particular fear among local Jews and condemnation from authorities in Australia and beyond.

“Last night’s arson attack in East Melbourne is cowardly, is an act of violence and antisemitism, and has no place in Australian society,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last Saturday. He vowed to bring “the full force of the law” upon anyone involved in the attacks.

“I condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together,” said Israeli President Isaac Herzog, one of several Israeli officials to make statements calling on Australia to do more to fight antisemitism. “It’s intolerable that in 2025, we’re still faced with the chilling image of an attempt to burn Jews alive as they pray,” he said.

Australian Jews have been on high alert amid widespread antisemitic incidents and tensions since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October 2023. Police in Melbourne evacuated a synagogue during Shabbat services in 2023 out of concern that a demonstration nearby would spill over into violence. And Adass Israel, a synagogue in a Melbourne suburb, was set ablaze in December, amid a flurry of attacks on Jewish targets. Police believe at least some of those incidents were the work of criminal gangs.

A speaker at the Melbourne rally denounced the synagogue attack, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, which reported that a source within the pro-Palestinian movement said the storming of Miznon “ruins public opinion – they do it in Palestine’s name and not one Palestinian was there”.