Labor has failed the Jewish community when leadership was needed most

We are told that antisemitism has no place in Australia. Yet it thrives.

This summer’s wave of violent terrorist attacks made that clear.

Antisemitic graffiti has appeared on houses and cars in Sydney and Melbourne.Credit: Edwina Pickles

From arson to a foiled mass casualty plot, antisemitic attacks have escalated to terrorism. Antisemitism is now political. We must debate its causes and how to combat it before it worsens.

That means doing away with some of the suggestions that are, in truth, a distraction.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s suggestion that Australia’s shift in voting at the UN is to blame for the explosion of antisemitism is simplistic and unhelpful. While Australia’s UN shift is fundamentally flawed and indefensible, the real issue isn’t what the government has done, but what it has refused to do – challenge the hate speech that is powering this wave of hatred. Antisemitism has found a foothold because it has been unchecked, and simply blaming it on foreign policy lets those spreading it off the hook.

The nuance here matters. There is clearly a connection between today’s antisemitism and the war in Gaza because it is a hatred and demonisation of Israel that glues together today’s antisemites in Australia – far left and right.

The government’s failure to confront antisemitic incitement stems from miscalculation, electoral considerations, and being wedged by the Greens.

First, they miscalculated – assuming this rhetoric would fade along with the war and that social cohesion would return, despite months of warnings from the Jewish community.

Second, they placated a vocal constituency instead of leading with moral clarity.

Third, they have allowed themselves to be wedged by the Greens. The Greens have abandoned all principle, rejecting even basic recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organisation. Their goal is not leadership but cynical vote-winning, particularly among the Muslim community and the far left.

Instead of standing firm on its long-held values, Labor has allowed its genuine opposition to antisemitism to be tainted by its political fear of the Greens. And in doing so, it has failed the Jewish community at a moment when leadership was needed most.

This is not just weakness. It is cowardice.

Jews, under the cover of being “Zionists”, have been demonised, vilified, harassed at work and school, attacked online, doxxed and boycotted. At weekly protests, the overwhelming majority of Jews who are Zionist and believe in the right of Jewish people to live in their ancestral homeland are portrayed as colonialists and genocide supporters. The recent violent attacks did not occur in a vacuum; they were fuelled by an atmosphere in which anti-Jewish hatred has been normalised.

The government has condemned each incident of antisemitism, criminalised doxxing, launched a police task force and funded security — and these initiatives are important, even if too late.

But what it can’t bring itself to do is smack down on the antisemitic rhetoric that is dehumanising Jews and driving these attacks, and the people who spread it. Why?

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, who is universally respected within the Jewish community, recently articulated the government’s view that hatred and demonisation of Israel is antisemitic when he said:

“Questioning the right of Israel to exist strikes at the heart of global Jewry. It is antisemitic.”

“Denying Israel’s right to defend itself is not criticism – that is an attempt to delegitimise Israel’s existence and has dangerous real-world consequences.”

Taking this view, we would find very many antisemites in Australia.

This antisemitism has spread through the arts, universities, trade unions and civil society, extending beyond criticism of Israeli policy.

Where the government failed, Peter Dutton maintained a consistent message of moral clarity. His call for national cabinet should have been heeded immediately.

While many concerns exist about the efficacy of mandatory minimum sentences for antisemitic crimes, what really matters is Dutton’s leadership in treating this crisis with the seriousness it deserves.

Until Australia’s foreign policy returns to a rational, principled footing – where the government can unequivocally rebuke these ways in which Israel is being demonised, and Jews who support its right to exist are slurred as racists or genocide supporters – the Jewish community will not feel that the government is taking the threat of antisemitism seriously.

If a government is willing to sacrifice decades of bipartisan support for a fellow liberal democracy to satisfy certain electorates, why should Jewish Australians believe it wouldn’t also deprioritise their safety for political gain?

That is the trust that has been lost. And it is the trust the government must fight to win back.

The government must call out the incitement and act. This must include a judicial inquiry into antisemitism, but it cannot stop there. The government must identify other areas within civil society where this incitement and demonisation have become systemic, creating an environment that enables violent antisemitism and call it out with moral clarity.

Anything less is a failure of leadership. And history will not forget.

Jeremy Leibler is president of the Zionist Federation of Australia.