Man, 39, assaulted a group of Jewish men outside Melbourne synagogue
He was filmed shouting ‘Go back to Israel’ and ‘swear to Allah’ on Thursday
Man then tried to strangle one of the Rabbis from Adass Israel Synagogue
He had allegedly stolen a child’s scooter from outside the synagogue
He was charged with theft, criminal damage and unlawful assault
A man who shouted ‘swear to Allah’ as he tried to strangle a Jewish Rabi outside a synagogue was tackled by a group of men dressed in religious attire when he became violent.
Video footage shows the 39-year-old man arguing with a group of Orthodox Jews outside the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea, south of Melbourne, on Thursday night.
The Reservoir man, who was drunk at the time, had been walking with three others towards the nearby train station when he allegedly stole a child’s scooter from outside the synagogue.
He got into a verbal argument with several Jewish men who came out of the synagogue to question him over the alleged theft.
The man, who was wearing a red shirt, pair of board shorts and no shoes, then slapped one of them in the face after he was told to ‘talk nicely’.
The victim and another man quickly cornered him on the ramp of the synagogue and told him to settle down because the police were on their way.
‘You settle down right now. You’ve got booze inside of you, true or not?’ the Jewish Rabi said in the video.
The man, who repeatedly said he was Aboriginal, started shouting at one of the men: ‘Go back to Israel’ and asked ‘Do you want to swear to Allah?’.
The man was then caught on camera trying to grab hold of the Jewish man’s throat.
The group of men, dressed in religious attire, quickly tackled him and pinned his arms and legs to the concrete until police arrived a short time later.
The man was arrested and charged with theft, criminal damage and two counts of unlawful assault over the incident.
A Rabi from the synagogue told Daily Mail Australia the man who bore the brunt of the attack was not injured in the scuffle. He said police told him at the time the man was on drugs.
‘It was an isolated incident and it was handled very well. It wasn’t anti-Semitic. The guy was on drugs and ice,’ he said.
‘A group of four were walking through the lane and they walked past some of the kids. I think they made a comment and then they started stealing their scooters.
‘This guy decided to stay for some odd reason and that’s when it happened. We handed the footage over to police.’
The man was held by police for several hours before being released on bail. He will front Melbourne Magistrate’s Court on January 19 next year.
