Election 2025: ‘Jewish Australians leading anti-Semitism fight amid Israel isolation’

One of Israel’s top voices to the UN has said Australia’s Jewish community is at the ‘forefront’ of a global fight against anti-Semitism.

Jonathan Harounoff, Israel's spokesman to the United Nations, on Tuesday in Sydney. Picture: Ryan Osland

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One of Israel’s top voices to the United Nations has said Australia’s Jewish community is at the “forefront” of a global fight against anti-Semitism.

Speaking to The Australian in Sydney, Israel’s international spokesman to the UN, British-born Jonathan Harounoff, said months of rising anti-Semitism and attacks in Australia had “cut through” overseas.

“I got to spend some time with (Australia’s) Jewish community and they are one of the most resilient, inspiring, courageous Jewish communities in the world,” he said. “They are very much on the forefront of the fight against anti-Semitism and combating this ­demonisation of Israel that we’ve seen at the UN, and in the United States and parts of Europe.”

Installed in the position in September 2024, Mr Harounoff – who has been based in New York for five years – echoed a common point made by Australia’s Jewish leaders: the scenes on October 9, 2023, at the Sydney Opera House fired an anti-Semitic stater’s gun.

“One of the most haunting ramifications … is what happened on October 9,” he said. “The protests that were staged on the steps of the Opera House. And beyond that, the virulent anti-Semitism that we’ve seen worldwide.”

Mr Harounoff’s tenure in the role has coincided with Australia’s split with the US in December to back UN resolutions demanding Israel end its “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible” and drop its ban on funding the UNRWA – joining more than 150 nations but marking a significant split with Washington’s representatives, who voted against.

“We expect the UN and member states to unequivocally and unambiguously condemn Hamas for its atrocities and demand the immediate return of all of those hostages,” he said. “And that’s not something that we saw happen and that’s been extremely disappointing. Instead, certain states have focused on rewarding the Palestinian representatives (with) talking about statehood.”

Mr Harounoff said the UN had become a “very dark place” and that some of its agencies often did “much more harm than good”.

“(We) are bringing released hostages to the UN to share their harrowing testimony first-hand,” he said, pointing to a recent ­address by Eli Sharabi, 53.

“They are going to share their story, to look into the eyes of all of the ambassadors and share the most horrific tales.”

Mr Harounoff said that whatever government emerged after the federal election on May 3 needed to commit to forever ­removing anti-Semitism from Australia. “(Anti-Semitism) is not just confined to Australia, but I hope that whichever government comes into power after the election addresses this problem head on and with force,” he said.

Eli Sharabi, a former hostage in Gaza, speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting in March. Picture: Getty Images

“It’s a very serious problem that is making a lot of members of the Australian Jewish community feel unsafe.”

Pointing to a recent anti-Israel protest at the University of Sydney that targeted a Jewish event hosting an October 7 survivor, Mr Harounoff said some activists had been so “blinded by hatred” they were failing to distinguish people from state.

“It was completely disrupted by protesters, who were so blinded that they didn’t realise the event was not a political event,” he said, urging authorities to better police protests that turned into hatred.

“I’m not talking about stamping down on peaceful protest, I’m talking about instances where there’s actual violence and actual unacceptable behaviour.”

Mr Harounoff would not comment on the killing of 15 paramedics in Gaza in March or whether Israel would concede to international demands for an independent investigation into the incident, a call which Australia joined last week.

The spokesman, whose grandparents are from Iran, said that the Islamic republic’s government had played an “enormous role” in orchestrating conflicts playing out in the Middle East.

“(Iran) is focusing more on prioritising a foreign policy agenda that isn’t going to lead to the betterment of Iranian lives, but to more chaos and destruction in the Middle East,” Mr Harounoff said.