A man who attempted to burn down a house once owned by a prominent Jew in Sydney, Australia, has been sentenced to five years in prison, after a court found his actions were part of a broader campaign of antisemitic intimidation.

Nicholas James Alexander, 32, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to seven charges connected to arson attacks and hate crimes carried out between late 2024 and early 2025.

According to the court, Alexander played a role in a string of incidents targeting Jewish sites and individuals across Sydney — including setting vehicles ablaze and attempting to torch a home previously owned by Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Jennifer Atkinson said the attacks were not isolated acts of vandalism but part of a coordinated campaign directed at the Jewish community.

The effort, she said, was orchestrated to inflame tensions and “drive a wedge between the Arab and Jewish communities” while advancing the objectives of a larger overseas criminal organization that had directed Alexander’s actions.

The court heard that Alexander recruited others to help carry out some of the attacks.

Among the incidents cited during the proceedings were attempts to place incendiary devices at a childcare center, the spraying of 10 Nazi symbols on a shul, and arson attacks on vehicles parked outside Ryvchin’s former residence.

Judge Atkinson said the crimes were calculated to spread fear.

“Alexander knew that the offenses would create fear within the Jewish community and beyond,” she said, noting that the attacks caused emotional harm not only to Jewish residents but to Australian society as a whole.

She said the five-year sentence was intended in part to serve as a “general deterrence” against similar hate-driven crimes.

The case emerged from a wider investigation into a surge of antisemitic incidents in Australia. Alexander was arrested as part of Strike Force Pearl, a specialized task force created to confront a wave of serious antisemitic attacks and hate crimes across the country.

Authorities initially charged him with 10 offenses in March last year. He pleaded guilty to seven of those charges in December 2025.

Following Wednesday’s sentencing, Ryvchin said the punishment reflected the seriousness of the crimes and the danger they posed.

“This man’s decision to target a childcare center and a family home caused people to fear for their lives and for the safety of their children,” he said. “His actions could easily have resulted in people being burned alive.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)