Jewish leaders divided over government culpability for antisemitism

Jewish leaders have cautioned against claims that Labor is to blame for a surge in antisemitism after the federal Coalition seized on the latest vandalism to claim the attackers were “emboldened and enabled” by the government.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected the Coalition claim as “divisive” and condemned the attack in eastern Sydney on Wednesday morning as an antisemitic outrage, amid an escalating political dispute over which side of politics was doing the most to stop attacks on Jewish Australians.

Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume levelled the new claim against Labor in the hours after two suspects torched a car and vandalised buildings in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra, days after the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne was set alight.

Hume intensified days of the criticism of Albanese by saying he had taken too long to visit the Melbourne synagogue – a claim the prime minister disputed because had arranged to be in Perth for several days.

“It does seem that those that are committing these offences have been emboldened, if not enabled, by a government that has failed to take leadership that the Jewish community are looking for,” she told ABC Radio National.

ABC host Patricia Karvelas asked: “Are you really saying that torching a car has been enabled by the government?”

Hume responded: “Well, these crimes have gone unpunished. They’ve gone unrecognised.” In fact, police are investigating each incident and have arrested two suspects over an antisemitic attack in Woollahra last month.

Earlier on Seven’s Sunrise Hume said the government and prime minister had “emboldened and enabled” those who were committing the crimes.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim cautioned, however, that the increase in antisemitism was a broader cultural problem that had emerged over decades and taken all governments by surprise.

“There has been an underlying change in Western culture away from the taboo against antisemitism that existed in the decades after World War II, and towards a growing permissiveness,” he said.

“Some of this has been orchestrated as part of the political opposition to Israel, and some of it is part of a broader anti-Western intellectual trend.

“No government can be blamed for this development, and they have all struggled to find ways to address it, including our own, because domestic politics inevitably get in the way.”

New Israel Fund executive director Michael Chaitow rejected claims that the government had encouraged antisemitism because it criticised the Israeli government or voted at the United Nations on motions that called for a two-state solution.

“It is possible to act decisively as a member of the international community, as the current Labor government has done, to urge [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to end the war and reach a ceasefire and hostage deal, whilst also working to address antisemitism here at home,” he said.

The government appears likely to anger Israel again in looming votes at the United Nations General Assembly resolutions in New York – due overnight on Wednesday – including on a motion calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza.

A second resolution affirms international support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza, and decries recent legislation passed by the Israeli parliament to prevent it from operating in the Palestinian territories.

Asked about the government’s UN voting record during a visit to the Jewish Museum in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon, Albanese said he had been a longtime supporter of Israel but also backed Palestinians “legitimate aspirations” for a state.

Colin Rubenstein, the executive director of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, said the government had been too reticent in condemning the intimidation of the Jewish community and was being unfairly critical of Israel.

“The spike in vicious antisemitic attacks over the last few days and weeks can’t be divorced from the context of intimidatory anti-Israel protests and statements we’ve seen on Australian streets and universities over the past 14 months,” he said.

The Australian Jewish Association said the government had gone “out of its way” to initiate disputes with Israel by banning the entry of former Israeli minister Ayelet Shaked and changing the Australian position on votes at the United Nations.

“I think part of their motivation has been to initiate conflict in order to win votes in Western Sydney,” said AJA chief executive Robert Gregory.

“There is a link between lies and smears against the Jewish state and attacks on individual Jews.”

The antisemitic attacks have included an arson attack in June on the office of Labor MP Josh Burns, who is Jewish, the burning of a ute in Woollahra last month, the arson at the Melbourne synagogue on Friday, and the torching of the car in Woollahra on Wednesday.

The government has condemned each of the attacks and denounced antisemitism, while police have launched investigations into each incident.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Adass Israel synagogue.Credit: Justin McManus

At the same time, however, Jewish leaders have accused Labor of turning against Israel by changing Australia’s position on key votes at the United Nations over the Middle East, including a resolution this month calling for an “irreversible pathway” to a Palestinian state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited that vote in the UN to link the Australian government’s actions to the synagogue attack.

“Unfortunately it is impossible to separate this reprehensible act from the extreme anti-Israeli position of the Labor government in Australia,” Netanyahu said last Friday.

He added: “Anti-Israel sentiment is antisemitism.”

Albanese rejected the key claim from Hume on Wednesday morning that the government had somehow enabled the antisemitic attacks.

“That is, yet again, a divisive comment,” he said on Radio National.

“This is a time for unity, not a time to seek political advantage or to seek to divide.”

Hume blamed the government for being too slow in setting up the task force to counter antisemitism, saying Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had called for its creation last week.

Dutton and Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson called for a task force in a statement at 8.10am on Monday. Albanese announced the task force at 2.30pm on Monday, after earlier federal cabinet meetings.

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