Man says he was attacked in ‘hate crime’ hammer horror because he works for a Jewish boss

A man who was allegedly kidnapped in Melbourne’s northwest and had his finger broken with a hammer fears he was attacked because he works for a “Zionist Jewish boss”.

The boss says his employee attended regular protests in Melbourne’s CBD and even travelled to one in Canberra. Picture: Diego Fedele

A man allegedly kidnapped from his car and brutally assaulted in a “hate crime” says his attackers stole his iPhone and forced him to hand over the passcode by breaking one of his fingers with a hammer.

The 31-year-old victim has told his employer that he was targeted in the horrific attack – allegedly carried out by a prominent female human rights advocate and a man who is a serial anti-Israel activist – because he worked for a “Zionist Jewish boss”.

The victim was so concerned the assailants would use information to attack his boss that he phoned him from his hospital bed to urge him to lock everything down, the employer has revealed to the Herald Sun.

The boss, who the paper has chosen not to identify, described the February 16 assault as “chilling”.

“My employee told me directly that the attack happened because he worked for me, a Jewish man, and that he (the employee) had ‘lost his faith’,” he said.

The successful businessman said he was shocked that the police had not been in touch with him, given the man and woman had been charged.

“If this was a hate crime, as my employee said it was, I would have expected the police to be in touch, but I haven’t heard from them.”

“When the staff member phoned me, he was scared, like really scared and panicking, and said he knew the people personally (who allegedly attacked him).

“It’s disturbing because both major shareholders in this company are Jewish.

“He was saying something like ‘Lock everything down, make sure your IT is secure’.”

It is alleged that the kidnappers, who the Herald Sun has been prevented from naming due to an extraordinary suppression order, dragged the man out of his car in St Albans at 9.30pm and forced him into another vehicle where he was assaulted with a hammer.

He was later found dumped in Braybrook with hand and facial injuries.

The company boss said: “I’m a Zionist and this employee is from Palestine. We discussed the war about three times from October to last month, and we obviously had a lot of differences of opinions.

“We agreed to disagree on those things and focus on what we did agree on – the loss of innocent lives on both sides.

“I told him that I had told my friends about these conversations and he told me he had done the same and thought I was OK. I employ Muslims, I employ Jews, I employ Christians – people from all around the world.

“We are a truly multicultural business, as you would want and expect in Australia.”

The man said he knew his employee had attended regular protests in Melbourne’s CBD and even travelled to one in Canberra. But he said he had “no problem” with him doing that as long as he didn’t break the law.

“He is entitled to protest and do as he wishes. It is not of my concern. It is only my issue if he breaks the law, and he hasn’t, as far as I’m aware,” he said.

The Herald Sun is legally prevented from publishing the names, pictures and details of the woman – a prominent advocate for victims in the Middle East – and the man, who have been charged with a raft of offences including kidnapping, assault, false imprisonment, armed robbery and threats to kill.

Victoria Police has categorically denied that the incident is a hate crime, saying: “The allegation … the accused were alleged to have targeted the victim because the victim worked for an employer of a particular religious background … is not correct.

“That allegation does not form part of the case against the accused and has not been alleged in any evidence or material before the court.”

But one legal source said motive did not have to be proven in court, only that a crime was carried out by the people charged.

“The fact police are not alleging a motive doesn’t mean the motive didn’t exist,” he said.

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said: “It is utterly appalling that, according to these allegations, someone was kidnapped and tortured because they work for a Victorian Jew.

“This explosion of extremist hatred in our country is a threat to our democracy and all Australians.”

“Since October 7 (the Hamas invasion of Israel), our police have watched on while extremists are stoking hatred. It’s led to a wave of racial vilification, discrimination and abuse, and now serious violence.”

The Herald Sun is fighting the suppression order in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday afternoon, which the court incorrectly stated was being defended by Victoria Police.