Two days after Adam Edward Moule was arrested in relation to January 11's attack on Sydney's Newtown Synagogue, authorities apprehended a 37-year-old man they believe was also involved.
The synagogue was spray-painted with red swastikas and briefly set alight in the early hours of January 11 before the fire went out.
The Newtown Synagogue was spray-painted with red swastikas and briefly set alight. (HANDOUT/RHEUBEN FREELANDER)
The 37-year-old man was arrested at a hotel in inner-city Pyrmont about 1pm on Thursday after officers used a Taser on him.
On Friday he was charged with property damage and arson offences, and knowingly displaying a Nazi symbol in public without a reasonable excuse.
He is the 10th person charged in NSW over a spate of recent anti-Semitic incidents as state and federal authorities undertake major investigations into the crimes.
Most of the attacks have taken place in Sydney, including the latest major incident in which a childcare centre near a synagogue in the city's east was set alight and sprayed with anti-Semitic graffiti.
A Maroubra childcare centre was targeted in a recent anti-Semitic attack. (Steve Markham/AAP PHOTOS)
Earlier on Friday, NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley admitted tensions stoked by the crime wave could be heightened on Sunday when the nation marked Australia Day, which has been the focus of large-scale protests in recent years.
"Of course it could (exacerbate tensions)," she told ABC radio on Friday.
"But let me tell you this, the NSW Police will be out in force."
Investigators were also following every line of inquiry to find those responsible for the anti-Semitic attacks, Ms Catley added.
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley has warned officers would be out in force on Australia Day. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)
Federal police have identified that foreign actors recruiting local "criminals for hire" could be behind some of the attacks targeting Jewish communities.
State and federal leaders agreed on Tuesday to set up a national database of anti-Semitic incidents to better track the crimes, which have also included the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue.
Muslim community leaders have identified rising cases of Islamophobia following Hamas's attack and Israel's subsequent war in Gaza, complaining that the incidents often go under-reported.
A week earlier, offensive slogans targeting the Islamic community were graffitied on a wall in a southwest Sydney suburb with a large Muslim population.
Ms Catley said police did not tolerate that kind of behaviour when it was targeted at any race or religion.
Officers in the state's central-west are also investigating the spray-painting of swastikas on a campaign billboard for Sam Farraway, the National Party's candidate for the federal seat of Calare.
"Far-right extremism and neo-Nazism has no place in our country," he posted on Facebook on Tuesday, along with a photo of the defaced billboard.
The second man charged over the Newtown attack is due to appear in Parramatta Local Court on Saturday, while Moule is being held in custody after not making a bail application during his initial appearance.
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