Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a national cabinet meeting for Tuesday afternoon, bowing to pressure for stronger action after a series of incidents targeting the Jewish community.
The Only About Children centre in Maroubra in Sydney's east was set on fire soon after midnight on Tuesday, and the words "F*** the Jews" were sprayed in black paint on a wall.
The site is a block away from Maroubra Synagogue, and the attack marks the latest in a string of anti-Semitic arson and graffiti incidents in the city's east, which is home to a large Jewish community.
Mr Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns, who both attended the site on Tuesday, pledged to throw all necessary resources at tracking down those responsible.
"This is a place for children and families and it should never have been denigrated by this despicable and horrifying crime," the PM told reporters.
The ground floor of the childcare centre was well alight by the time firefighters arrived on the scene, NSW Police said.
The blaze was put out, but the building was extensively damaged. There were no reports of injuries, and the property was empty at the time.
Scorch marks could be seen around the broken windows of the childcare centre hours later, and the burnt smell of the overnight firebombing was still evident nearby.
Rabbi Zalman Goldstein from the Maroubra Synagogue said his community would hold a special service on Tuesday evening to greet the dark events with "light, peace and love".
"I'm saddened this can happen in Maroubra, a very peaceful, very beautiful place where people move to with their young families," he told AAP.
"But Jewish people are not scared. We are very resilient ... we've been through things like this in much worse ways, and we hope we can be a message for other minority groups to stay strong."
Mr Minns said more police would be added to a strike force investigating the anti-Semitic attacks.
"It is completely disgusting, and these bastards will be rounded up by NSW Police," he said.
However, the premier was forced to defend his state's handling of the crisis and his rhetoric, given that his stronger language has been matched with an increase in the rate of attacks.
He said a police strike force targeting anti-Semitic crimes had made more than 180 arrests and charged at least 10 people since October 2023.
The latest incident comes as the nation's Jewish community reels from a vandalism and arson attack on the former home of Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief Alex Ryvchin early on Friday.
The house was defaced with slurs and red paint, and cars were set alight outside.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on Monday announced plans for tougher laws to combat anti-Semitism if he was elected, including minimum six-year sentences for terrorism offences.
But Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman Greg Barns said there was no evidence mandatory sentences deterred offenders, adding that minimum jail terms led to injustice.
Likewise, the Jewish Council of Australia urged a calm and considered political response to the "terrifying" attacks.
"We urge politicians not to use these attacks for political point scoring or to spread other forms of hatred, such as Islamophobia or anti-Palestinian racism ... responses such as these breed racism and division rather than combating them," it said in a statement.
With AAP.
