Anthony Albanese takes strong stand on anti-Semitism ‘but attacks must stop’

Jewish leaders warn Anthony Albanese that his landmark plan to fight anti-Semitism will be judged on how fast he can implement it and how hard he can crush anti-Jewish bigotry | READ THE 20-PAGE PLAN

Special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal, on Thursday. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

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Jewish leaders are warning ­Anthony Albanese that his landmark plan to fight anti-Semitism will be judged on how fast he can implement it and how hard he can crush anti-Jewish bigotry, as they declare the Prime Minister and Labor have finally shown “they get it”.

The Prime Minister’s hand-picked envoy on anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal, was flanked by Mr ­Albanese and Home Affairs ­Minister Tony Burke on Thursday as she unveiled a strategy that promises to bring universities, arts bodies, and public broadcasters into line if they allow anti-Jewish hate to continue to foment.

The Segal plan would strip funding from universities and arts festivals that fail to stop anti-Semitism, train border force officials how to screen anti-Semites trying to enter Australia, and implement a nationwide definition of anti-Jewish hate in all level of governments and public institutions.

Australia’s highest-profile vice-chancellor, University of Canberra chief and ex-Labor leader Bill Shorten, warned his sector that it could not hide behind “academic freedom” and must work with Ms Segal in her plan to fight anti-­Semitism on campuses.

Ms Segal will also work with the ABC and SBS to make sure they are taking social cohesion into account and make sure judges, prosecutors and police are trained to deal with anti-Semitic hate crimes.

Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, was among Jewish leaders in Australia who lauded Thursday’s plan as the most significant step yet into solving a crisis that has seen Jewish Australians targeted on campus, in synagogues, and even in childcare centres since the October 7 massacres and the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in late 2023.

In his strongest comments since the crisis broke out, Mr Albanese said he would not stand by and let Jewish Australians be vilified and abused under the guise of pro-Palestinian activism.

“Anti-Semitism is an evil scourge,” the Prime Minister said in Sydney. “There is no place in Australia for anti-Semitism. The kind of hatred and violence that we’ve seen on our streets recently is despicable, and it won’t be tolerated. And I want those responsible to face the full force of the law.”

Ms Segal on Thursday. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Anthony Albanese on Thursday. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Mr Albanese made it clear he would not walk away from his ­government’s strong criticisms of the Israeli government’s actions in its war against Gaza terror group Hamas but said the pro-Palestine movement’s targeting of individual Jews was “delusional” and “destructive”.

“Where the line has been crossed is in blaming and identifying people because they happen to be Jewish.” he said. “If you have a view about the directions of the Netanyahu government, or any other government for that matter … I saw on the ABC the other night, a woman who participated in the trashing and violence that occurred at the restaurant in Melbourne.

Justifying that, justifying it. There is no justification for that whatsoever. And what’s more, the idea that somehow the cause of justice for Palestinians is advanced by behaviour like that is not only delusional, it is destructive.”

The nation’s Jewish leaders overwhelmingly backed the Prime Minister’s plan on Thursday after longstanding fears that Labor was unable or unwilling to tackle anti-Semitism. But the Prime Minister and Mr Burke said the plan could take months to implement, and could not point to which of Ms Segal’s proposals could be enacted by the end of the year.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said all sectors of society would be needed to make the Segal plan a success, but warned Mr Albanese on Thursday that Labor must still play the central role in defeating anti-Semitism.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin. Picture: Chris Pavlich

“Now the two most senior ministers in the federal government, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Home Affairs. have given a powerful, eloquent and sincere ­affirmation of their revulsion at what is being done to Jewish Australians,” Mr Ryvchin writes in The Australian. “They have shown that they get it. But this does not get the federal government off the hook or abrogate its central role in guiding our country back to somewhere better than we are now. It has to lead this fightback.”

Mr Ryvchin said Mr Albanese had drawn a “line in the sand” by signalling his support for Israel, but the marker of success would be a fall in anti-Semitic incidents as well as a change in the lived experience of individuals within institutions, such as universities, schools and arts bodies.

Zionist Federation of Australia chief executive Alon Cassuto welcomed Mr Albanese’s recognition that recent attacks in Melbourne were acts of anti-Semitism that went beyond criticism of Israel, as well as the recommendations to screen anti-Semites before granting them visas and addressing anti-Jewish sentiment at universities and in the arts. Mr Cassuto said the strategy would have succeeded when Jewish Australians could live their lives without fear.

“Success looks like people being able to pray in a synagogue without being fearful it will be firebombed, Jewish students proudly wearing their uniforms, uni students who are not afraid to tell their peers on campus they are Jewish, Jewish people who don’t feel like they have to remove their Star of David necklaces in public, and Jewish and Israeli businesses and artists who don’t get targeted, boycotted, and excluded,” he said.

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Julian Leeser said Mr Albanese would not be judged on the merits of Ms Segal’s report but on the “concrete steps he now takes and how effective they are”.

“In releasing the plan this morning, the Prime Minister expressed the right sentiments, but stopped short of backing them up with any concrete commitments,” he said. “We now need to see the actions he takes to make the envoy’s plan a reality.”

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said he hoped to see significant progress within universities, public broadcasters and cultural institutions in combating anti-Semitism, law enforcement agencies better equipped to act decisively against hatred and improved public education by the end of the year. Lawyer and national chairman of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, Mark Leibler, urged the government to adopt the plan in full.