New police, ASIO squad to keep Jews safe

Andrew Tillett and Gus McCubbing

Updated Dec 9, 2024 – 4.55pm, first published at 11.05am

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A dedicated squad of police and intelligence officers will be created to deal with the national scourge of antisemitism after law enforcement authorities belatedly declared Friday’s arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue as terrorism.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, facing criticism for being too slow to respond to rising rates of antisemitism, convened cabinet’s national security committee on Monday before announcing the establishment of Operation Avalite to investigate threats and hate crimes against Jewish Australians.

Andrew Tillett writes on politics, foreign affairs, defence and security from the Canberra press gallery.

Gus McCubbing is a journalist at the Australian Financial Review in Melbourne.