Sydney Train Terror: Teen Stabs Jewish Man in Antisemitic Rampage

In a brazen act of anti-Semitic violence, a 16-year-old boy in Sydney has been arrested and charged with assaulting a 66-year-old Jewish man at knifepoint on a train, marking the latest alarming incident in Australia's escalating wave of anti-Jewish hate crimes. New South Wales Police confirmed the arrest in Padstow, a southwestern Sydney suburb, where the teenager was taken into custody and charged with intent to commit an indictable offense, common assault, making public threats based on religion, and intimidation to cause fear of physical harm. Denied bail, he was arraigned in a children's court, while authorities continue the hunt for a second suspect involved in the attack.

The assault unfolded as the victim approached the train doors, when the two assailants hurled anti-Semitic slurs before attempting to stab him. The man sustained minor injuries and was treated at the scene before lodging a formal complaint. Police reports describe the suspects shouting hateful abuse, underscoring the targeted nature of the violence against Australia's Jewish community, which numbers around 120,000 and has faced unprecedented threats since Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed 1,200 and abducted over 250.

This incident is part of a disturbing national trend. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) documented 2,062 anti-Semitic incidents from October 2023 to September 2024, a staggering 316% increase from the 495 reported the previous year. Physical assaults skyrocketed nearly sixfold, from 11 to 65, while vandalism and threats plagued Jewish institutions. Synagogues in Melbourne and Sydney have been firebombed, including the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea in December 2024, and a Jewish childcare center in Sydney's east was set alight and graffitied in January 2025. In May 2024, Melbourne's largest Jewish school, Mount Scopus Memorial College, was defaced with "Jew die." Bomb threats, death threats to prominent Jews, and arson attempts have become routine, with half a dozen attacks in Sydney alone in recent months.

The surge, fuelled by anti-Israel sentiment post-October 7, has prompted swift government action. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed Jillian Segal as Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism in July 2024 and convened a national cabinet meeting in January 2025 to address the crisis. New South Wales doubled its antisemitism task force to 40 investigators, and federal laws now ban Nazi salutes and symbols. In early 2025, Sen. Ted Cruz-inspired legislation, the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act, influenced calls for similar U.S.-backed sanctions on enablers of hate. Jewish groups like the Community Security Group (CSG) recorded 1,045 incidents in 2024, a 26% rise, while the Anti-Defamation Commission noted a 120% weekly spike in early 2025.

Australia's Jewish leaders, including ECAJ's Alex Ryvchin, warn that the raw numbers understate the fear gripping communities, with incidents now commonplace in sermons, schools, and streets. From unprovoked assaults on Jewish students in Melbourne to graffiti on bakeries in Sydney, the violence spans ideologies, from Islamist extremists to far-left and neo-Nazi groups. As the war against Hamas continues, experts urge global solidarity to combat this "national crisis," echoing concerns that eroded norms since October 7 have unleashed long-suppressed hatred.