Australian police say seemingly anti-Semitic terrorism incidents are indeed “crime work” that sows chaos

An explosive-filled trailer of Australian politicians who were earlier described as anti-Semitic terrorist plots and foiled mass casualties was staged by criminals in a complex scam that was never detonated, police said on Monday.

A trailer for law enforcement investigations into a January discovery in a suburb of Sydney revealed at a press conference that its placement was concocted by criminals who were placed to divide personal interests from dumping authorities to their existence – a strange twist in the Saga dance, months after protesters committed crimes in Australia.

A series of attacks on places where Jews live, work and study, including syn NSW Deputy Police Chief David Hudson told reporters on Monday that an instance of daycare centre and several anti-Semitic vandalism was committed by “a small group, potentially one person behind it.”

Authorities made the unusual claim in January that instead of 12 people arrested in a series of crimes in Australia's largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, they were driven by anti-Semitic ideology and were hired criminals. Hudson said another 14 people were not motivated by hatred on Monday.

But he added that there is no doubt that Australia's anti-Semitism (which has occupied the news media and politics in the last 18 months) has been “escalating in the past 18 months” since October 7, 2023, a Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel, triggering triggered terrorist attacks. The Gaza War.

Preliminary data released just a few months after the release of the Australian Jewish Executive Committee showed that a total of 662 anti-Semitism incidents in Australia occurred in October and November 2023.

“In contrast, Australia reported 495 anti-Semitic incidents throughout the 12 months ended September 30, 2023,” the committee said at the time.

In response to the rise of such events, Australia New laws were enacted In January 2024, it was explicitly prohibited to show Nazi tribute in public and display or sell Nazi hatred symbols such as swastika. The new law also makes acts that glorify or praise acts of terrorism a criminal offence.

“It's criminal work in essence”

But now there seem to be many incidents as part of a well-crafted criminal scam that are not actually rooted in anti-Semitism.

The revelation was leaked to the public ahead of the announcement of the law enforcement plan – a trailer was found outside Sydney in January with explosives used in the mining industry and a series of claimed Jewish targets that prompted state and national leaders to say that it represents potential extremist violence.

But investigators said Monday they believed the trailer was “almost immediately” to be “part of a fabricated terror plot that is essentially a criminal scam”, but kept secret suspicion.

The trailer is easy to find and shows explosives clearly. “And, there are no detonators,” Barrett said, adding that “there will never be a large-scale casualty incident.”

Instead, those who staged a caravan plan to inform authorities of the imminent attack on Jewish Australians, Barrett said. Why investigators think they are not easy to do so.

Motivation, overseas interests and culprits are still very large

Barrett and Hudson, speaking on behalf of a joint law enforcement effort to arrest perpetrators of anti-Semitic crimes, said they believe those who forged trailers aim to attract the attention of the authorities, divert police resources, create fear and use the situation to gain personal gain. This may include attempts to use information about the attack to bargain with police in fewer sentences in other criminal proceedings.

“We believe the person who plays the strings wants to change their criminal status, but keeps distance from the plan and hires so-called local criminals,” Barrett said, adding that person is still big.

Since January, authorities have said they believe overseas interests are planning crimes, although they are not more specific. They have not disclosed which local criminal groups may be employed for the attacks, including hateful graffiti.

Barrett added that this is not the only thing that happened. “Too many criminals working in criminal economies are taking on these tasks,” she said.

The 14 people arrested on Monday face charges against more than a dozen attacks investigators believe were carefully planned.

A strange twist shrouded a summer, with anti-Semitic crimes sweeping Sydney and Melbourne, accounting for 85% of the Australian Jewish population. One person suffers physical harm – An admirer suffered a burn in a fire held in a Melbourne synagogue in December.

Hudson said the worst plot was not the ideological behavior of hatred, and “there was some comfort in the Jewish community.” However, these crimes have had a “creepy impact” on the Jewish community and have raised unfounded suspicion of other groups.

The high-profile attack is not the only attack police are investigating. Nearly 200 people have been prosecuted since October 2023 in New South Wales, where Sydney is located, have been linked to anti-Semitism.