Rogue nations and terror groups are not believed to be behind payments to criminals committing antisemitic acts, with police clarifying a strong focus is money being funnelled to gangs for hire that are potentially acting out of personal animosity towards Israel and Jews.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw’s left-field revelations that intelligence indicated organised crime may be behind recent acts of antisemitism deepened the political row between the government and opposition over the response to the crisis.