The attack comes amid a rise in anti-Semitic incidents across the globe in the wake of the Israel-Gaza war.
Poland’s political leaders have condemned a firebomb attack on a synagogue in Warsaw.
The Nozyk Synagogue in the capital was attacked with three firebombs early on Wednesday. The building sustained minimal damage, and there were no casualties.
Police said they have not established a motive for the attack and no perpetrator has been identified. Attacks against Jewish targets have risen around the globe since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October. However, it is also suspected Russia may be seeking to use the rising tension to encourage social divisions in Europe.
“We were informed overnight about an incident involving a bottle containing a flammable liquid being thrown onto synagogue grounds,” a police spokesperson said.
President Andrzej Duda called the attack “shameful” in a post on X. “There is no place for antisemitism in Poland! There is no place for hatred in Poland!” said the head of state, who is closely linked with the nationalist, conservative Law & Justice Party (PiS), which governed Poland for eight years before losing to an opposition alliance in last year’s elections.
“We must respond very robustly and strongly to this outrageous and vicious attack,” Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski declared.
We learned that at 1:00 this morning, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the front of the Nożyk Synagogue.
Thankfully, no one was hurt and no serious damage was done. However, we must respond very strongly and robustly to this outrageous and vicious attack. https://t.co/3s41jxUF8J
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇵🇱 (@PolandMFA) May 1, 2024
The staunchly pro-Western minister also noted that the incident came on the 20th anniversary of Poland joining the European Union.
“Thank God no one was hurt. I wonder who is trying to disrupt the anniversary of our accession to the EU,” Sikorski wrote on X. “Maybe the same ones who scribbled Stars of David in Paris?”
In November after the outbreak of the Gaza war, more than 200 paintings of the Star of David appeared on buildings around Paris.
France later said a Russian destabilisation campaign had used automated social media accounts to whip up controversy and confusion about the symbols and feed alarm about surging anti-Semitism.
A Moldovan couple who was arrested in Paris for scrawling Stars of David on a school told media that they acted on orders from “an individual in Russia”.
According to the Anti Defamation League, anti-Semitism has soared in Europe since October 7.
