Ro Knox, Liberal candidate for Wentworth, heads to Israel for six-day tour, including Tel Aviv and Gaza

The Liberal Party’s pick to claw back a coveted seat in Sydney’s east will tour Israel, in what she describes as a display of “unequivocal” solidarity with the “unsupported” Jewish community.

The Liberal Party’s candidate for the federal seat of Wentworth has boarded a flight to Israel in a display of “unequivocal support” for the local Jewish community, which she claims is feeling “unsupported” and let down by “weak leadership”.

Ro Knox departed on Monday morning for a six-day trip to Israel, which will include visits to the Gaza envelope and the capital, Tel Aviv.

The jam-packed itinerary will also include meetings with senior female Israel Defense Forces leaders, security experts, Tel Aviv start-ups and advocates working to secure visas for LGBT communities in Gaza and the West Bank.

While touring the Gaza envelope in the country’s south, Ms Knox says she will be working with Israeli experts investigating how humanitarian relief was delivered in light of October 7.

She also plans to meet with venture capitalists and executives in Tel Aviv, where she hopes to gain an understanding of how Israel’s tax incentives and funding models has made the city emerge as a burgeoning Silicon Valley.

The Liberal Party’s Wentworth candidate, Ro Knox.

Calling from Dubai during a stopover, the Vaucluse mother-of-two said the trip was “a show of unequivocal support” for the Jewish community, who she says have been let down by the “weak leadership” of the current federal government.

“I really mean it if I’m going there in this particular period.

Ro Knox is en route to tour Israel for six days.

“It’s so important we are standing so firmly with Israel.

“Labor have not been clear about where they stand in terms of supporting the Jewish community, even though they’ve said all the right things.

“There’s been a huge amount of talk but no action, and what the government is proposing now there is no guarantee security for the state of Israel.

“The fact we would go against America’s position on this is quite extraordinary.”

A building defaced during a vandalism spree in Woollahra last month.

Ms Knox, who is not Jewish but has “deep ties” to the community, including an education from Hebrew university, said the eastern suburbs were awash with fear, which had been heightened by what has been described as a terrorist attack on a Melbourne synagogue and last month’s vandalism in Woollahra.

“I have spent lots of time in Israel and lived in Wentworth for 20 years.

“I have never seen the Jewish community so concerned for their safety as now, and that’s all based on all these incidents of anti-Semitism, and the shocking vitriol on social media which we’ve never seen anything like before.

“People are very fearful and feel unsupported by this government.

Former prime minister John Howard with Ro Knox at a fundraising cocktail party. Picture: Jane Dempster

“They’re concerned about kids going to Bondi Junction in their uniforms on transport.

“There’s a huge amount of students in our (local government area) studying at USyd who haven’t been going to classes.

“It is extraordinary to be targeting a community for a global conflict.”

Ms Knox is hinging much of her campaign on a commitment to stamping out the east’s rising scourge of anti-Semitism as she faces the daunting task of taking back the former blue ribbon heartland from teal independent Allegra Spender.

In her opinion, “weak leadership” and “legislation which is not fit for purpose” have emboldened “extreme voices on the other side” to incite the ugly hatred surfacing in Australian communities.

“It just shows what happen when you have weak leadership,” she said.

“People cross boundaries because there's no guardrails.

“The federal government makes people think this is acceptable.

“We need to tighten up that language in the Crimes Act and Anti-Discrimination Act so legislation is fit for purpose.

“After the Opera House protest, only one person was charged, yet not convicted.

“We need to decide if that’s really the outcome we want.”

Ms Knox’s comments coincide with federal opposition leader Peter Dutton announcing a new set of policy measures aimed at fighting anti-Semitism.

The measures include a dedicated Australian Federal Police taskforce and a $32.5m security funding package requested by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

The election promise includes armed guards at Jewish schools and synagogues.