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Neve Brissenden

Egging attack no longer anti-Semitic as teens charged

Since December, there has been a string of anti-Semitic attacks on buildings and vehicles. (Steve Markham/AAP PHOTOS)

Police have backtracked on suggestions the egging of a group of young women was another example of the anti-Semitic attacks recently aimed at Jewish communities.

Five women on Saturday night told Bondi police they were targeted by three young men in a silver Mazda, which later crashed onto a kerb in the eastern Sydney suburb with the engine running.

The car contained a carton of eggs and an empty jerry can.

NSW POLICE PRESSER
NSW Det Supt Darren Newman says an egging attack on a group of women wasn't anti-Semitic.

The head of the NSW Police task force probing a spate of anti-Semitic incidents, Detective Superintendent Darren Newman, previously said investigators were treating the matter as being a targeted attack.

The young women's clothing had potentially singled them out for the egging, he said.

But on Tuesday, investigators confirmed they now believed the attack was random after arresting two teenage boys over the incident.

The women were wearing Star of David necklaces, but the boys would not have been able to identify them from their car, police said.

The 16-year-old boy who was allegedly behind the wheel of the Mazda was arrested in Maroubra on Monday and charged with driving a stolen car and a slew of other offences.

A 14-year-old boy was arrested in Waverley on Monday and charged with being a known passenger in a stolen car.

The older boy was refused bail and is due to appear in children's court on Tuesday, while the younger was granted bail to appear in court on Monday.

Over the weekend police were busy chasing up a series of anti-Semitic events in Sydney, including graffitied cars and buildings and the alleged abuse of a Jewish woman.

Police ruled out any link between the incidents on Saturday night and a caravan previously found on Sydney's northwest outskirts that contained explosive material and addresses of Jewish targets.

Since December, a synagogue has been firebombed, multiple cars torched and swastikas and anti-Semitic language painted on vehicles and buildings in areas with large Jewish communities.

The Australian Federal Police is investigating whether overseas actors paid local criminals to carry out some of the anti-Semitic attacks.

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