Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation's Jewish community.

A man has been charged over an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue in an apparent escalation in antisemitic violence in Australia’s second-most populous city.

A man has been charged after a Melbourne synagogue was set alight with more than a dozen people inside, prompting a furious response from Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The 34-year-old man entered the grounds of the synagogue on Albert Street at 8pm on Friday, police said.