Canadian leaders on Wednesday condemned the firebomb attack on Congregation Beth Tikvah in Montreal, which was the second time the synagogue has been attacked since October 7, 2023.
Montreal police received a 911 call shortly before 3:00 a.m. about a fire at the synagogue in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, police spokesperson Véronique Dubuc said.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze and found an incendiary device at the scene, Dubuc said, adding one window of the synagogue was smashed and the door to the building was damaged.
Dubuc said police have not yet determined whether the fire constitutes a hate crime, but it was condemned as such by several political leaders.
“This vile antisemitic attack against Montreal’s Jewish community is cowardly and criminal. The [Montreal Police] is investigating the incident — and I trust the perpetrators behind this hateful act will be quickly brought to justice,” wrote Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a post on social media site X.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre condemned the attack and criticized Trudeau’s Liberal government.
“Another brazen act of antisemitic hate and violence overnight. After nine years of Justin Trudeau, Canada has become a more dangerous place for people of the Jewish faith,” wrote Poilievre.
“I condemn these cowardly acts and call on this Liberal government to finally show a backbone and do something to protect our people,” he added.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante wrote on X, "Antisemitic actions are criminal actions. The SPVM will investigate and will find those responsible. It is not acceptable that Montrealers live feeling unsafe because of their religion.”
Quebec Premier François Legault shared a post from François Bonnardel, the province's public security minister who condemned the incident and wrote, "This is not the Quebec we want."
Congregation Beth Tikvah was previously firebombed in November of 2023, in one of many acts of antisemitism that Montreal has seen since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel.
Several days later, two Jewish schools in the city were hit with gunshots. Another Jewish school was riddled with bullets three days after that.
In November, a man described as Arab entered a Jewish-owned business in Montreal and threatened to kill the business's owners as he went on an expletive-laden tirade against Jews and Israel.
That incident took place days after violent rioting broke out in Montreal during a pro-Palestinian Arab demonstration, in which demonstrators set fire to an effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then threw firecrackers at the police, smashed the windows of stores, and set fire to several vehicles.
In July, a Jewish cemetery in Montreal was vandalized, with the vandals arranging stones over the graves into the shape of a swastika.