Jewish students in Sydney returned to school on Friday with a heightened security presence, days after police said they foiled a planned antisemitic attack in the city using a trailer filled with explosives.

The police said they were investigating whether “overseas actors” were involved in the vandalizing of synagogues and a day care center.

Australia was once viewed as a multicultural melting pot but a string of attacks against its Jewish community has cast doubt over this perception.

Australia has been grappling with a spate of antisemitic attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war in late 2023.