Israeli president urges Albanese to crack down on antisemitism in firebombing’s wake

Israel’s president has told Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to take “firm and strong action” against antisemitism, as he condemned a surge of attacks on the Australian Jewish community that culminated in arsonists firebombing a Melbourne synagogue.

Isaac Herzog said he spoke to Albanese after the attack on the Adass Israel temple, condemning “an intolerable wave of attacks on Jewish communities in Australia and around the world”, echoing remarks from the country’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has personally told Anthony Albanese to confront antisemitism. Credit: AP

“I noted to the prime minister that this rise and the increasingly serious antisemitic attacks on the Jewish community required firm and strong action, and that this was a message that must be heard clearly from Australia’s leaders,” said Herzog, whose position is roughly equivalent to Australia’s governor-general, in a post on X.

“I thanked him for his ongoing efforts to combat antisemitism, and expressed my trust that the local law enforcement would do everything in their power to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

His intervention came as Israel’s ambassador to Australia absolved the federal government of responsibility for rising antisemitism here amid deteriorating relations between the two countries over disagreements in international forums.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had criticised Albanese for not showing enough support for the Jewish community, citing the government’s decision to break with Israel in high-profile United Nations votes, following Friday’s arson attack.

News of the pre-dawn firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue came hours after the office of Israel’s prime minister condemned the Albanese government’s decision to support Palestinian statehood, warning it could foster terrorism and antisemitism.

Image from the Melbourne synagogue attack on Friday morning.Credit: The Age/Nine

Police in Victoria and NSW were instructed to increase patrols of the states’ synagogues as the federal joint counter-terrorism task force was called in to help investigate the firebombing, which gutted the synagogue and forced congregants to flee.

Albanese said he had spoken to the president of the synagogue, which is in the heartland of Melbourne’s Jewish community, after the attack.

“There’s no place in Australia for an outrage such as this. To attack a place of worship is an attack on Australian values,” Albanese told reporters in Perth.

“To attack a synagogue is an act of antisemitism. Antisemitism has been on the rise. We call it out wherever we see it.”

The attack comes as the relationship between Australia and Israel is severely strained by the war in Gaza, and Australia’s peak Jewish groups say they feel betrayed by the Albanese government, which has not backed Israel as fiercely as the Coalition.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar said antisemitism “must be relentlessly confronted”.

“I urge Australian authorities to act swiftly and ensure the despicable perpetrators are brought to justice,” he said.

Sa’ar this week called in Australia’s ambassador to Israel Ralph King to reprimand him for the government’s decision to deny a visa to former justice minister Ayelet Shaked.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office provided a statement to The Australian explicitly condemning the Albanese government for its shifting stance at the UN.

“Awarding antisemitism and terrorism with a state in the heart of the Jewish ancient homeland and cradle of civilisation will invite more terrorism and more antisemitic riots at campuses and city centres, including in Australia,” it said.

Dutton, speaking at a press conference in NSW on Friday morning, said the firebombing could have been predicted given the rise of antisemitism in Australia since terrorist group Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

“I want to pretend this wasn’t expected, and it couldn’t be predicted, but I can’t do that to the Australian people,” he said, calling on Albanese to explain Labor’s diplomatic shift away from Israel in UN votes.

“I will always stand up for people of Jewish faith because they should be treated equally with every other Australian, and the way in which they’ve been ostracised in our country and the way in which that’s been condoned, frankly, by the prime minister and others, just has no place in our society.”

Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, said he was “disappointed” with Labor’s shifting positions, but diplomatic relations were bigger than a few votes at the UN.

Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon said he was “disappointed” with Labor’s shifting positions but that diplomatic relations were bigger than a few votes at the UN.Credit: AAP

“I don’t hold the government, the Albanese government, as responsible for the rise [in antisemitism],” he said at a press conference outside the Canberra embassy on Friday afternoon, cutting across the opposition’s claims.

“But I do urge the Albanese government to take all necessary actions and steps in order to uproot this ugly phenomenon and to make sure the Jewish people, whether they live in Canberra or in Melbourne and Sydney or elsewhere, will feel safe and secure.”

Maimon played down the statement from Netanyahu’s office, noting it was not attributed to the Israeli prime minister himself.

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said he was not surprised by the Melbourne attack, declaring: “Enough is enough. This is a stain on our nation. It’s time for all levels of government to turn their words into actions to stamp out this Jew-hatred.”

Joel Burnie, executive manager of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, said: “When racism like this goes practically unchecked, it is almost inevitable that escalations like this potentially murderous arson attack on a synagogue will occur.

“We urge all the relevant authorities to learn this lesson, and to take all possible steps to crack down on this malignant activity.”

The recent UN vote on Israel and Palestine marked a two-decade change in Australia’s position on the matter and coincided with the nation’s top diplomat in Israel being summoned by its foreign minister, who is furious about an earlier decision to deny a prominent former minister entry to Australia.

The last time Australia voted for a UN resolution calling for ­Israel to withdraw from occupied territories was in 2001. In May, Australia voted to recognise Palestine as qualified to become a full UN member, and last month, Australia backed a resolution recognising the “permanent sovereignty of the Palestinians” in the West Bank and Gaza.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion said the arson attack was the worst example of growing antisemitism.

“Don’t leave the Jewish people behind. Don’t isolate us,” Aghion urged the Australian public. “Stand with us. Stand against this hate.”

Former Labor leader Bill Shorten said: “Leaders on all sides of politics continue to need to be united and committed to demonstrate that Australia is better than this”.

“The hostility to Israel has morphed into antisemitism, and we need to call it out,” the departing cabinet minister said.

Speaking at the Central Synagogue in Bondi on Friday night, NSW Premier Chris Minns reassured the Jewish community and lashed “disgusting” antisemitism, including a recent spate of graffiti in the city.

The vast majority of Australians of different faiths supported the Jewish community and condemned such hate crimes, Minns said.

“These are not empty words,” he said. “I hope that you know that Australians are with you tonight.”

Foreign Minister Penny Wong rebuffed Israel’s criticisms at a Friday morning press conference in New Zealand.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“We’ve been clear that Palestinian civilians cannot continue to pay the price of defeating Hamas,” Wong said in Auckland, insisting Australia “supports and historically has been a friend of Israel.

“We are concerned that we see, a year since the overwhelming majority of countries, including New Zealand and Australia, voted for a ceasefire, [that] now we see tens of thousands more killed, including some 13,000 or 14,000 children.”

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said he was becoming increasingly worried about Australia and Israel’s long-term relationship.

“We should be stewarding and respecting the relationship, not trashing it,” Paterson said, adding that state and federal governments should have been quicker in cracking down on antisemitic sentiment in Australia.

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