Local leaders denounced the episodes, which both took place on Friday evening: arson at a synagogue and a disturbance at an Israeli eatery.

A man has been charged after a Melbourne synagogue was set alight with more than a dozen people inside, prompting a furious response from Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The 34-year-old man entered the grounds of the synagogue on Albert Street at 8pm on Friday, police said.

The prime ministers of Australia and Israel on Saturday condemned an arson attack on a busy Melbourne synagogue, which rattled worshippers but caused no injuries. Detectives from the Counter Terrorism Security Investigation Unit said they have charged a man after the suspicious fire at a synagogue in East Melbourne on Friday night.