Peter Dutton blasts Labor and international community on Christmas Day

In a message to the Albanese government and international community, Peter Dutton says ‘there is much that will weigh heavily on the minds of Jewish people’ this Hanukkah.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has warned the “sheer magnitude” of the nation’s anti-Semitism crisis threatens to overshadow Hanukkah.

Peter Dutton says the “sheer ­magnitude” of the nation’s anti-Semitism crisis threatens to overshadow Hanukkah, as he accused the Albanese government and the international community of the “shameful” treatment of Israel for 14 months.

Wednesday marked the first time the beginning of Hanukkah and Christmas Day had coincided in 19 years, with hundreds of thousands of Jewish Australians celebrating despite the threat of growing anti-Semitism.

Referencing the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, the Opposition Leader denounced what he described as a “sordid moral inversion” by the Inter­national Criminal Court, accusing it of unfairly targeting Israeli leaders while ignoring acts of ­terrorism.

Mr Dutton’s message comes just weeks after a Melbourne synagogue was firebombed and one of Sydney’s biggest Jewish suburbs was attacked by anti-Jewish ­vandals.

“This Hanukkah, there is much that will weigh heavily on the minds of Jewish people in Israel, around the world, and here in Australia,” Mr Dutton said.

“There’s the plight of hostages who remain in Hamas’s captivity.

“There’s the chilling reality that in Israel’s hours of need since 7 Oct­ober, 2023, some of its allies have shamefully behaved more like adversaries and demanded standards of Israel which they would never expect of themselves in similar circumstances.

“And there’s the sordid moral inversion of the ICC that has criminalised Israeli leaders for taking the fight to those terrorists responsible for the greatest loss of Jewish life on a single day since the ­Holocaust – terrorists who will never rest until the Jewish state is exterminated.”

He said these events showed a double standard in how Israel was treated compared to other nations facing similar circumstances.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture: John Gass/NewsWire

Mr Dutton also invoked the historical significance of Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple and the miracle of the menorah. Hanukkah is one of the only Jewish holidays that is meant to be celebrated in public.

“From the hate-filled mob that gathered on the steps of Sydney Opera House to the firebombing of Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue, intolerable incident after intolerable incident has been tolerated due to a vacuum of political leadership,” he said.

“Australians are alarmed by what has transpired on our soil – not only because it’s an attack on one segment of our community but because it’s also an attack on our democratic values and liberties, especially freedom of belief.”

The full letter from Peter Dutton on Christmas Day.

Turning his focus to domestic issues, he said “decent Australians” had observed “in shock and with disgust” intimidation, vilification and crime directed against people of Jewish faith for 14 months.

“In a frightening way, Australians who have read about the history and horrors of the Holocaust have, for the first time, grasped how that catastrophe eventuated.

“They have seen, with their own eyes, a type of hate that if left unchecked unleashes greater evils.”

He promised that a Coalition government would act decisively to “restore law and order” and ­provide “moral clarity” on issues of national and international ­significance.

“In that spirit, may the ordeals of the last 14 months be all the more reason for Australia’s Jewish community to commemorate ­Hanukkah as a confident statement of your solidarity, strength, faith and hope,” he said.

“As you do, I say with you, Am Yisrael Chai.”

Anthony Albanese did not make a specific statement on ­Hanukkah on Wednesday, despite the historic alignment of the Jewish holiday and Christmas.

The Prime Minister has faced criticisms this year that he has not done enough to stem the anti-Semitism crisis, especially through his increasingly pro-Palestine position at the UN.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin has called this Hanukkah the “most significant and meaningful Hanukkah the community has marked in generations”.