Envoy wants education programs to counter antisemitism ignorance

Australia’s government-appointed envoy against antisemitism has called for mandatory training across the education and corporate sectors following a new round of antisemitic attacks.

Jillian Segal, a businesswoman appointed by Labor to tackle bigotry towards Jewish Australians, revealed in an interview with this masthead that her next major recommendation for antisemitism training was aimed at reducing societal ignorance about the problem.

“It all starts with words, but it doesn’t end in words,” she said, while commending Labor’s moves earlier this year to criminalise hate speech.

Her recommendation follows a series of antisemitic attacks in Melbourne on Friday that rattled Australia’s Jewish community. They came after a spate of similar occurrences over the summer, against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The scorched door of the East Melbourne Synagogue after it was set alight on Friday evening.Credit: Christopher Hopkins

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the events, representing the controversial leader’s second recent thrust into Australian issues as the federal government hardens its stance against his war effort in Gaza.

A 34-year-old man from the western Sydney suburb of Toongabbie, Angelo Loras, fronted court in Melbourne on Sunday, charged with endangering life after he allegedly lit on fire the front door of a historic inner Melbourne synagogue while families with small children shared Shabbat dinner inside. He had never previously been in custody, the court heard. Nobody was physically injured.

Netanyahu said in a statement in the early hours of Sunday morning: “I view with utmost gravity the antisemitic attacks that occurred last night in Melbourne, which included attempted arson of a synagogue in the city and a violent assault against an Israeli restaurant by pro-Palestinian rioters.”

“The reprehensible antisemitic attacks, with calls of ‘death to the IDF’ and an attempt to attack a place of worship, are severe hate crimes that must be uprooted,” he said.

“We demand that the Australian government take all action to deal with the rioters.”

Speaking outside the historic Albert Street synagogue in East Melbourne, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke indicated the fire was likely motivated by a wish to instil terror within the Jewish community. He said Victoria Police was unable to declare it as such on Saturday as it worked to establish a motive.

But he went on to say: “I think every Australian has a view, and we probably all have the same view as to where that will end up”.

Burke declined to respond to Netanyahu’s remarks or calls from the Coalition for a meeting of state and federal leaders to tackle antisemitism, arguing that unity was more important than political sparring.

“What we see in the door that’s behind me is an attack on Australia,” Burke said.

“There’s been some reporting that no one was physically injured – that doesn’t mean no one was harmed. The community here was harmed. The Jewish community in Australia was harmed, and we were harmed as a nation.”

About 20 people, including children, were taking part in Shabbat inside the synagogue when flammable liquid was poured on the front door of the building and it was set alight.

On the same night, a separate group of about 20 people, some masked and wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, entered the CBD Israeli restaurant Miznon at 8.15pm.

Vision from the Miznon incident shows diners screaming in fear inside the Hardware Lane restaurant, which is part-owned by an Israeli entrepreneur who has been promoting a controversial aid group in Gaza linked to violence against Palestinians at aid sites. The group chanted “death to the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces]” at Miznon.

Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke (right) outside the East Melbourne Synagogue on Sunday.Credit: Christopher Hopkins

Police are also investigating a third incident, where three cars were set on fire and the wall of a business in Melbourne’s north-east was spray-painted with graffiti against the Israeli military about 4.30am on Saturday.

The vandalised business, Lovitt Technologies Australia, is a weapons company with links to Israel.

Burke said authorities were still working to establish if there was any direct link between the three events, but he said they were all connected by their targeting of Jewish or Israel-linked sites, violent rhetoric and physical violence.

“Any chant that begins with the word ‘death’ is steeped in bigotry,” he said. “Anyone who wants to defend a death chant can go ahead, but I can guarantee they won’t have Australians on their side.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised the recent attacks in Melbourne.Credit: AP

Amid a spate of attacks on Australian Jewish sites in December, Netanyahu claimed the Australian government was not doing enough to curb antisemitism. Some of those alleged crimes involved organised criminals.

Australia has taken an increasingly hard line against Netanyahu’s government for its actions in Gaza, and comments from far-right members of Netanyahu’s cabinet, who were sanctioned by Australia last month for allegedly inciting violence against Palestinians.

Netanyahu has become increasingly isolated diplomatically as New Zealand, Canada, Britain and Australia, all traditional friends of Israel, have criticised the length and severity of the war in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7 massacre. About 60,000 have died in Gaza, according to Gazan authorities. Along with Hamas leaders, he is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over Israel’s operations in Gaza

with Chris Vedelago and Chip Le Grand

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