‘Blown away’: Presenter Sharri Markson slams Anthony Albanese’s comments following synagogue fire in Melbourne

Anthony Albanese’s condemnation of the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue has been slammed for being out of touch by a prominent Jewish commentator. Emergency services were called following reports of a fire at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea, Melbourne, about 4.10am on Friday. It’s since been reported that ultra-Orthodox community members were inside the synagogue at the time of the fire, which Victoria Police are treating as suspicious. Police allege two men wearing masks were seen spreading an accelerant inside the synagogue moments before it was set alight. Sky News presenter Sharri Markson said as a Jewish woman, seeing the footage of the fire was “heartbreaking”. “It’s impossible to overstate how devastating, how truly heart wrenching this is for the entire Jewish community today across the country and in fact across the world,” Ms Markson told Sky News on Friday. “A synagogue, a Jewish place of worship, was firebombed was set alight in Australia in 2024.” Multiple leaders, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, have condemned the alleged attack. “This was a shocking incident,” Mr Albanese told reporters on Friday. “It should be unequivocally condemned. There is no place in Australia for an outrage such as this. “To attack a place of worship is an attack on Australian values. “To attack a synagogue is an attack of anti-Semitism. It’s attacking the right that all Australians should have to practice their faith in peace and security. “It’s important that these people be held to account for what is a shocking crime. “Anti-Semitism is something that’s been around for a long period of time of course. But anti-Semitism has been on the rise and we call it out when we see it.” Reflecting on the comments, Ms Markson she was “blown away” by what the Prime Minister said. “We have not seen political leadership from the Prime Minister on this issue,” she said. “I can’t tell you how angry I am, truly angry to hear how he said just then that anti-Semitism has been around for a long time because that is abdicating his leadership on this issue. “He is the prime minister, it’s his responsibility and fine it’s been around for thousands of years but not in Australia it hasn’t, not in my lifetime. “This is an unprecedented rise in anti-Semitism in Australia since October 7, 2023. “It’s on his watch, it’s on his responsibility to show leadership on it. “He’s shown the bare minimum on this issue over the past year. He hasn’t shown leadership or strength and that’s why we’ve ended up in this situation right now where a synagogue is firebombed.” Ms Markson said the Jewish community “has been begging for leadership on this issue”. “We have been up until the past 14 months a successful multicultural society, those Australian values of inclusion, of acceptance, of tolerance need to be protected,” she said. “They haven’t been fought for and instead we’ve allowed pro-Hamas supporters to antagonise and intimidate the Jewish community. “The vandalism has been intense.” Ms Markson said the Jewish community needed to be supported as anti-Semitism continues to rise. “This isn’t the Australia that anyone recognises,” she said. “I couldn’t understand how we ended up with the holocaust … because I’d never known anti-Semitism as a Jew myself. “We haven’t seen it in our community until October 7, 2023. It’s only increased since then and dramatically month by month. “We’re just seeing an escalation of incidents and it’s the horrifying reality of what’s unfolding here.