MELBOURNE, Australia — A man who set fire to a Melbourne synagogue while worshippers were inside was motivated by mental illness rather than antisemitism, an Australian magistrate said on Monday.

A v, 35, had pleaded guilty to arson and recklessly placing people at risk of death on July 4 when he doused the front door of the East Melbourne Synagogue with flammable liquid and ignited it. Around 20 worshippers were inside sharing a Shabbat meal, but no one was injured.

Antisemitic incidents have risen sharply across Australia since Hamas carried out its October 7, 2023, massacre, sparking the war between Israel and Hamas. Government leaders suspected the attack on the synagogue, which is also known as the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, was a hate crime.

The morning after the fire, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese released a statement saying the arson attack was “cowardly, is an act of violence and antisemitism, and has no place in Australian society.”

But Magistrate Malcolm Thomas ruled on Monday that Loras was not motivated by antisemitism but had been in the grip of a terrifying delusion stemming from his failure to take........

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