Australia will further inflame relations with Israel after backing two United Nations resolutions, including one urging a Gaza ceasefire, as Australia’s Jewish community reels from the third major outbreak of antisemitic vandalism in three weeks.

In a hastily arranged visit to Sydney’s Jewish Museum on Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese backed a ban on protests outside synagogues as offered his most comprehensive defence yet to accusations his government had not responded strongly enough to rising levels of antisemitism since last year’s October 7 terrorist attack on southern Israel.