Australian police have said they foiled a potential antisemitic attack on discovering a trailer packed with explosives in northwest Sydney, alarming the Jewish community following a spate of arson and graffiti incidents.

Police in Australia say they have seized explosives that they believe were intended for a plot to target Jews. The explosives, as well as material containing details about Jewish institutions, were found earlier this month in a camper van in a suburb of Sydney.

Australian police believe explosives found on Sydney’s outskirts were evidence of a deadly escalation in a campaign of antisemitic arson and graffiti crimes that has been waged in major cities for months,

Sydney restaurateur Judith Lewis couldn’t save the mezuzah, a framed parchment inked with Hebrew prayers, that was hanging in her family’s café when arsonists set it alight in the early hours one Sunday in late October.

An antisemitic campaign featuring arson and graffiti has been waged in major cities for months, authorities said.

Australian police say they suspect explosives stashed on Sydney’s outskirts were evidence of a deadly escalation in a campaign of antisemitic arson and graffiti crimes that has been waged in major cit