ALP’s woeful actions are encouraging anti-Semitic attacks

Pro-Palestinian protesters on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House less than two days after Hamas massacred in the most barbaric way possible 1200 people in Israel. Picture: Jeremy Piper.

A synagogue in Melbourne has been firebombed, there has been an attempted arson attack at another synagogue in Sydney. Jewish Australians have been attacked in the streets, and now cars, houses and a childcare centre have been vandalised, firebombed or destroyed.

Enough is enough.

Since October 7, 2023, the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, Jew-hate has exploded in Australia.

Anti-Semitic incidents have risen in Australia by 738 per cent since October 7. This is a disgrace.

The Australian Jewish community is rightly scared and as Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister I am duty bound to call out these terror attacks aimed at fellow Jews.

It’s extraordinary that in 2025 there have been 13 major anti-Semitic attacks in NSW alone in January, including the firebombing of a childcare centre at Maroubra. This attack happened just around the corner from where I used to live.

I welcome the announcements of arrests by NSW Premier Chris Minns for those alleged to have committed recent anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney. I note, however, that the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, and other Australian ministers are refusing to accept any responsibility for the shocking recent surge in anti-Semitic terror in Australia. There is no doubt the rise in anti-Semitism in Australia has been caused in part by the Australian government’s ongoing campaign against Israel.

From the moment an anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas mob chanted outside the Sydney Opera House on October 9, 2023, “Gas the Jews”, “F. k the Jews” and “Where’s the Jews?” – with no criminal consequences – anti-Semitism has grown out of control in Australia. As former senior Australian Federal Police officer David Craig said this week: “For a start, we should have drawn a line in the sand of that disgusting protest of our national icon, the Opera House, by Palestinian people chanting racist hate speech right there on our icon.”

Have any of these people been arrested for the anti-Semitic hate speech and intimidation towards Jews from the shocking scenes in front of the Opera House? No.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus meets Israeli Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Sharren Haskel. Picture: X

I spent almost seven wonderful years of my life living in Australia.

I moved to Australia in 2007 after serving in the Israel Defence Forces during the Second Intifada. I worked as a veterinary nurse in Bondi and made my home at Maroubra. I found Maroubra to be a beautiful and peaceful neighbourhood with a Jewish school, a French school and a Greek school where people from many communities travel from far away to educate their children.

Sydney is truly one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Like so many immigrants to your country, I found Australia overwhelmingly welcoming, open, tolerant and free.

What has happened to the loving, welcoming Australia that made me so happy all those years ago?

Last week I met with Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus in Jerusalem. I expressed to Mark my disappointment with the shift in the Australian government’s attitude towards Israel.

I emphasised the state of Israel’s deep concern regarding the shocking rise in anti-Semitism and the obviously ineffectual response from all levels of government.

The Australian government is now constantly supporting anti-Israel motions at the UN; a reward for Hamas’s terrorism.

The Australian government recently refused a visa for Ayelet Shaked, Israel’s former justice minister, as well as refusing a visa for an Israeli member of parliament and civilians, too.

The Australian government has constantly called for a ceasefire without the precondition of a return of all Jewish hostages first.

Australian ministers are happy to visit Israel but won’t say if the Prime Minister of Israel would be arrested under the baseless, ridiculous and overtly political International Criminal Court warrant if he set foot on Australian soil.

How is it that in the state of Victoria those responsible for a firebombing terror attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne haven’t been brought to justice? Late last month people dressed in black staged a protest on the steps of the Victorian parliament with a banner declaring “Jews hate freedom”. What on earth were the police doing?

Jewish students don’t feel safe on university campuses around Australia any more, and a Jewish academic had his office invaded.

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” isn’t just a chant, it’s calling for the destruction of the state of Israel and the slaughter of Jews. Why can’t university officials understand this and stop the hate directed towards Jewish students?

There have been several other shocking incidents where Jewish Australians have been pelted with rocks, shoes and eggs. Some have been spat at, one had a can of drink thrown at him, and many have been abused in the street.

Years ago, Australia was one of the first nations to vote to support the state of Israel at the UN. We hope we can rely on Australia’s support again soon.

Australia is one of the world’s great democracies and multicultural nations. I expect the Australian government to find its voice in stamping out the scourge of anti-Semitism domestically, and to support democracies wherever they are threatened, like Israel.

Israel is fighting for its survival against the murderous proxies of Iran that embody the antithesis of Australian values.

It’s high time the Australian government recognised this fact and acted accordingly and supported the one true democracy in the Middle East – Israel.

Sharren Haskel is the Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel.