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<\/p>\nOn Friday afternoon, rabbi and school principal Elisha Greenbaum said the Bondi massacre and other recent attacks had strengthened the desire of many people in the community to express their Judaism more strongly. More people were lighting Hanukkah candles and turning to prayer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the Jewish response,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Greenbaum said he was focusing on responding with goodness and godliness rather than anger to the acts of antisemitism committed against the Jewish community.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re in control of your own emotions. You can choose how to react.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greenbaum, who travelled to Sydney earlier in the week, said he was inspired by the response of the rabbis there and how they were supporting their communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could see they had made a conscious decision to be there for others rather than allow themselves to be overtaken by emotion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking to the media on Friday afternoon, Gilbert said police had released Argento\u2019s name in the hope that anyone who might see him, or who knows where he is, would alert police.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is wanted on a warrant at this stage, for use of a stolen credit card,\u201d Gilbert said. \u201cWe will allege he may have been involved in other property offences as well, including stealing from cars. In fact, we are looking at another incident that occurred after the car fire, which was a theft from a motor car, and we\u2019re looking at links between those two offences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilbert was unable to confirm whether this was a random attack or was antisemitic in nature, but he said speaking to Argento would clear that up.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, we\u2019ve got everything on the table. Our responsibility at this stage is to make sure that we don\u2019t take anything off the table. We look at it and, certainly, if it was racially or obviously motivated, we will follow that angle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing at the moment is that we speak to him and we understand what [the motives] are, because we want to make sure the community doesn\u2019t live in fear as a result of this incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe certainly don\u2019t have any specific threats to the community here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilbert said police had been engaging with victims in the Jewish community for some time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been doing this for many, many months, particularly since the end of 2023,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are visiting families who\u2019ve been victims. We have sat with grieving families since Bondi, so we are very much out listening and engaging with community, which is why our presence here in Caulfield, in Port Phillip and the broader Melbourne area is so strong at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Jewish leaders called the St Kilda East attack antisemitic and that it was \u201copen season on Jews\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Police outside a Jewish school in St Kilda East earlier this month.Credit: Jason South<\/p>\n
\u201cBondi Beach is now soaked in Jewish blood. Is that what we are waiting for here … in Melbourne?\u201d said rabbi Gabi Kaltmann.<\/p>\n
St Kilda Chabad rabbi Effy Block, who has the same menorah on top of his car, said the burnt-out vehicle belonged to a friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s traumatising. They are coming off the Bondi massacre. They saw fire outside \u2013 they ran out of the house. Mentally, it was very traumatising for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an antisemitic attack because they saw the menorah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Premier Jacinta Allan said on Thursday afternoon that the firebombing was not what any family deserved to wake up to on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis little car has been driving around town spreading the Hanukkah and holiday cheer. I even saw one drive past when I was in Caulfield on Monday afternoon,\u201d she said in a statement on X.<\/p>\n
Police will patrol the area, and the burnt car will undergo forensic analysis by an arson chemist. <\/p>\n