“That Is Terrorism” announced a headline in The Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday reporting that a caravan laden with enough explosives to cause a 40-meter blast wave was found in Sydney, with a note naming the address of a shul as a target. The caravan was found 10 days ago and was only revealed after an investigation into the potential “mass casualty event” was leaked to the media. According to the report, New South Wales (NSW) police were called by a local resident on January 20 after he discovered a caravan filled with explosives. The police who arrived at the site found Powergel explosives, which are believed to have been stolen from a mine site, along with a note listing the address of a shul. “There’s only one way of calling it out and that is terrorism,” NSW Premier Chris Minns said. “This would strike terror into the community, particularly the Jewish community, and it must be met with the full resources of the government. And I want to assure the people of NSW that’s exactly what’s happening.” The caravan had been parked on the roadside in a hazardous position between December 7 and January 19, the report said. The police transferred the investigation to the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team, which combines state and Commonwealth agencies, including the Australian Federal Police and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. Although over 100 officers have been tasked with finding the perpetrators, they have not yet been found. NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson confirmed that no arrests have been made. “I can indicate we have no information that there are further explosives in our community in relation to conducting antisemitic attacks anywhere,” Hudson said. “We believe that we have contained, appropriately, this current threat.” Hudson added that the incident was kept secret to allow a clandestine investigation to be carried out and the plan was to tell the public “very soon”. Responding to criticism that the Jewish community and wider public were not made aware of the threat 10 days ago, Minns said: “There’s a very good reason that police don’t detail methods and tactics and that’s so that criminals don’t understand what police are getting up to in their investigations. Just because it wasn’t being conducted on the front pages of newspapers does not mean this was not an urgent in fact the number one priority of NSW Police.” Sydney has suffered a series of antisemitic attacks in recent weeks and months. Last week, a daycare near a Jewish school and a shul was set on fire in the middle of the night. The day after the attack, Australian federal police launched an investigation regarding suspicions that the recent antisemitic attacks in the country are funded by “overseas actors.” Later that day, the police arrested a suspect involved in the attempted arson attack of a Sydney shul earlier this month. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)