A driver has been charged with a hate crime after allegedly ramming the gates of Brisbane’s biggest synagogue with his vehicle – the latest in a series of attacks that has shaken Australia’s Jewish community.
The 32-year-old man, whose name has not been released, reversed a black Toyota pick-up truck into the entrance of Brisbane Hebrew Congregation on Friday evening, knocking down its gates, before driving off, according to Queensland Police. The incident was caught on CCTV. Investigators located the vehicle about an hour and a half later and took the driver into custody. Police said no one was injured.
After the ramming, the suspect apparently circled back past the synagogue, which is in central Brisbane, before stopping outside the Queensland Holocaust Museum where he was found.
Appearing in front of Brisbane Magistrates Court on Sunday, the man was charged with a serious vilification or hate crime, wilful damage, possession of dangerous drugs and the utensils to use them.
Queensland Police say they believe the man acted alone and that there is no ongoing threat to the community. Counterterrorism police said the assault was not an act of terrorism and may have stemmed from drug-related behaviour and mental health issues.
Libby Burke, vice president of the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies, said the community feels “deeply distressed” by the targeting of the synagogue. “This attack is not only an attack on my community; it is an attack on all of us,” she said, also expressing her gratitude to Queensland Police for their “prompt action” and support.
Van deliberately rams Australia synagogue gates during Shabbat prayers as worshippers flee to safety:
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) February 22, 2026
A 32-year-old man was arrested Friday after deliberately ramming a van in reverse into the gates of Brisbane's main synagogue during Shabbat services, with security footage… pic.twitter.com/Q2RDtY3G2S
Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, a Jewish-Australian community organisation that combats antisemitism, said: “Since October 7, antisemitism in this country has not whispered; it has roared. It has leapt from slogans to smashed windows, from online bills to physical assaults on Jewish spaces and individuals as we saw at Bondi. And now, a car used like a battering ram against a synagogue in the heart of Brisbane.”
The car-ramming attack follows a series of anti-Jewish incidents across the country, most notably in December when 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl, were killed and 39 injured during an Islamist terror attack on a Chabad-organised Chanukah celebration on Bondi Beach, in Sydney.
The country has witnessed numerous other instances of Jew-hate, such as antisemitic graffiti appearing on private homes and Jewish buildings – including on the premises of Australia’s largest Jewish school in May 2024, and on a Jewish bakery in Sydney in October the same year.
A kosher deli in Bondi was set alight, also in October, and in December of that year Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was set on fire in an attack Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said was directed by the Iranian government. In January 2025, a Jewish childcare centre was firebombed and targeted with antisemitic graffiti, while in July, 20 worshippers at a Friday night dinner at the East Melbourne Synagogue were forced to flee an arson attack.
In February 2025, two nurses were sacked from a Sydney hospital after they appeared to threaten to kill Israeli patients and refuse to treat them, in a video that went viral online.
The Israeli government has repeatedly criticised Australia for its apparent failure to address antisemitism in the country. Israeli President Isaac Herzog was met with protests earlier this month during a visit to Australia to show solidarity with the victims and survivors of the Bondi Beach attack.
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