Former Israeli diplomat Michael Oren links Iran and Hezbollah to anti-Semitic attacks

Former Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren believes Australia’s anti-Semitic attacks echo Iranian tactics.

Former Knesset member and Israeli ambassador Michael Oren. Picture: Getty Images.

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A former Israeli ambassador to the US believes Iran and its proxy Hezbollah may be behind anti-­Semitic attacks in Australia, citing as precedent an assassination attempt against him.

Michael Oren said the wave of hate crimes since October 7, 2023, had the same modus operandi as foreign interference carried out by Hezbollah and Iran through the 2010s.

“I’ve come to Australia, among other regions, to examine the state of anti-Semitism here – anti-Semitic attacks in Australia are front page news in Israel,” Mr Oren said. “It’s not unusual … for an international terrorist organisation to use local criminals to harass and terrorise a local Jewish community. This is a global phenomenon (where) Iranian terrorist organisations use local criminals to carry out acts of vandalism, acts of ­desecration, and even terrorist ­attacks.

“I know because, over a decade ago, I was the target of an Iranian assassination attempt that was mounted not by agents, but by the gangs of Mexican cartels.”

Through drug exportation and community influence across Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, Hezbollah has at points amassed fortunes to fund its military efforts. When it began using those established lines of communication to co-ordinate foreign interference it prompted a Treasury crackdown from the US, under the guidance of former president Barack Obama.

Despite those efforts, Mr Oren warned the espionage infrastructure of Hezbollah across Syria, Lebanon and Iran was likely still robust enough to cause havoc abroad. In October 2011, Iranian nationals Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri were charged with the attempted assassination of the Saudi ambassador to the US, Adel al-Jubeir.

The Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington DC. Picture: AFP

US officials later uncovered a broader plan to bomb the Saudi and Israeli embassies, while Mr Oren was based at the latter. The attack was co-ordinated using the financial and communication infrastructure of Mexican drug cartels and intended to be carried out through proxies.

“This is a known MO of the Iranians,” Mr Oren said. “Hezbollah, Syria and Iran are major suppliers of drugs to the world … they are very much in connection with the drug cartels, and the drug cartels are in connection with a lot of criminal gangs.”

His theory matches the line of inquiry made public by the Australian Federal Police in January, when Commissioner Reece Kershaw said officers were looking at “who is paying those criminals (behind anti-Semitic ­attacks), where those people are, whether they are in Australia or offshore, and what their motivation is”.

Australia’s intelligence agencies have since avoided elaboration on the topic.

Mr Oren praised Australia’s record on support for Israel, citing its “tremendous clarity” on foreign policy issues. Asked if that clarity had been lost under the Albanese government, Mr Oren said: “I’m going to be very diplomatic and say I hope not.

“I have excellent relationships not just with Australian diplomats, but Australian leaders. I’ve had interactions with a great number of them. My particular counterpart back then was (former Labor leader and ambassador to Washington) Kim Beazley,” he said. “I had extensive dealings with leaders, from Julie Bishop to Tony ­Abbott to Howard and Morrison.”