A 47-year-old man has appeared in a Melbourne court charged with arson after a car bearing a Hanukkah sign was firebombed outside a rabbi's home on Christmas Day. John Argento, of Richmond, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday, where he declared his innocence via video link from police cells.
Argento is accused of setting alight a vehicle displaying a chanukiah symbol outside a rabbi's house in St Kilda East in the early hours of Christmas Day. The car belonged to a friend of Rabbi Effy Block from the Chabad of St Kilda. No one was inside the vehicle, but a woman and three children were evacuated from the house as a precaution.
The defendant faces six counts of criminal damage by fire, six counts of shop theft, three counts of obtaining property by deception, two counts of attempted theft from a motor vehicle, theft from a motor vehicle, and burglary. Police also allege Argento may have been involved in a nearby car break-in about 20 minutes after the arson.
The court heard Argento has diagnosed schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. He is also at risk of self-harm and is on a methadone program. He was remanded in custody to appear again on Thursday.
The incident occurred less than two weeks after the alleged terror attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach that targeted Jews celebrating Hanukkah. Naomi Levin, chief executive of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, said the Australian Jewish community remains on edge. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan described the attack as what the community rightly fears is an antisemitic incident.
