Overview
- Angelo Loras, 35, pleaded guilty to arson and recklessly placing people at risk after igniting the East Melbourne Synagogue’s front door on July 4.
- About 20 worshippers were inside for a Shabbat meal, and no injuries were reported.
- Magistrate Malcolm Thomas imposed a four‑month sentence, less than the 138 days already served, and ordered 20 months of medical treatment and unpaid work.
- Loras told police he thought the building was a residence, and the magistrate advised against a A$54,000 restitution bid because of Loras’s prolonged homelessness.
- Officials note rising incidents targeting Jewish sites nationwide, with separate earlier attacks attributed by Australian spy agencies to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and a same‑weekend disturbance at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne under investigation.