860 Palestinians granted temporary visas, as Anthony Albanese rejects anti-Semitism

Almost 900 Palestinians granted temporary visitor visas since Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel will be subject to security screening and character checks.

Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton attend the grand opening of the Melbourne Holocaust Museum In Elsternwick on Wednesday. Picture: Nicki Connolly / NCA Newswire

Almost 900 Palestinians granted temporary visas since Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel will be subject to security screening and character checks, as Anthony Albanese promised Jewish leaders he will never allow anti-Semitism to claim a foothold in Australia.

Following the Israeli government’s announcement of a four-day pause in return for the release of hostages, the Albanese government on Wednesday revealed it had granted 860 temporary visitor visas for Palestinians who have close links to Australians.

The government later confirmed that 1793 visas had been approved for Israeli citizens, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is in direct contact with 69 Australians, permanent residents and family members seeking to leave Gaza.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said all people granted visas to Australia between October 7 and November 20 were subject to appropriate security checks and that visas had also been issued to Israelis. Around 127 Australian citizens, permanent residents and family members have left Gaza.

“There is obviously a lot of demand from those in the region for Australian visas, for people who are eligible. Again, I would say this – people who obtain visas to Australia are subject to appropriate security checks,” Senator Wong said.

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said Australia had a long tradition of providing “temporary visas and other similar visas, and that should continue ­especially for civilians at risk”.

“But the community needs to be assured that thorough and proper security and safety checks will be undertaken, regardless of their origin; that is a basic principle of a robust and viable immigration system,” Dr Rubenstein said.

“The community will want to know who is selecting the candidates for the visas and who is doing the security screening, given that Gaza is a territory whose governing authority is a murderous, listed terrorist organisation in Australia.

“Detailed scrutiny would seem to be required to ensure Hamas ­activists and supporters – or even worse, Hamas terrorists – are not inadvertently admitted into Australia,” he added.

Speaking at the reopening of the Melbourne Holocaust Museum on Wednesday, the Prime Minister linked the October 7 Hamas atrocities with the Holocaust and acknowledged that the Jewish community is “bearing a pain you should never have had to bear again”.

Mr Albanese said Australia would always denounce and reject anti-Semitism, amid a rise in violence and hate speech targeting the Jewish community and Israel.

In a show of bipartisan support, Mr Albanese was joined at the ­museum opening by Coalition and Labor MPs including Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto.

Mr Albanese – who has come under fire over divisions inside Labor and perceptions that senior ministers have not been unequivocal in their condemnation of anti-Semitism – said “the Holocaust is not softened by the passing of time”.

“It does not recede into history. It does not offer the one, slender comfort of distance. Since the atrocities of October 7, Jewish Australians have been bearing a pain you should never have had to bear again. And you are feeling fear. Anxious that the long shadows of the past have crept into the present,” Mr Albanese said.

“That should not be happening in a land that offered refuge then, and embraces you now.

“As the conflict continues, anti-Semitism is on the rise. But we will not let it find so much as a foothold here. Australia will always denounce it and reject it utterly, just as we do all forms of racism and prejudice.”

He said there was “no place in Australia for symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust”.

“There is no place for those who seek to profit from the trade in these evil symbols, or use them to promote their hatred. We owe it to our multicultural society, our Jewish community, and our survivors,” he said.

He invoked the 9000 Jewish refugees from central Europe who found asylum in Australia before the outbreak of World War II.

Mr Dutton said: “Whenever and wherever the forces of anti-Semitism are on the march, there is a need for moral courage and moral clarity”.

“Right now, there is a need for unequivocal and unqualified condemnations of the anti-Semitism we are witnessing. There must be no tolerance for that which is not tolerated,” he added.