Almost an epiphany on anti-Semitism for Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese has issued an emotional plea for national unity to end the ‘evil’ of anti-Semitism after a fresh hate crime in Sydney, as he defended his government against claims its hard-line stance on Israel had encouraged attacks on Australian Jews.

Anthony Albanese at Sydney’s Jewish Museum on Wednesday. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Anthony Albanese has issued an emotional plea for national unity to end the “evil” of anti-Semitism after a fresh hate crime in Sydney, as he defended his government against claims its hard-line stance on Israel had encouraged attacks on Australian Jews.

After more than a year of criticism by Jewish leaders of Labor’s positioning on the war in Gaza, the Prime Minister appeared close to tears as he declared the Woollahra graffiti attack a terrorist incident and implored Australians to learn the lessons of the Holocaust and say “never again”.

“We need an end to anti-Semitism. It is evil. It diminishes us as a nation,” he declared at Sydney’s Jewish Museum on Wednesday.

The appeal came after at least three homes in the heart of Sydney’s Jewish community were daubed with graffiti declaring “Kill Israiel” (sic) and “Death 2 ­Israiel” (sic).

As Labor prepared to vote for two more pro-Palestine resolutions in the UN overnight, Jewish leaders warned Mr Albanese’s words of support for Jewish people needed to be backed with action in the global arena.

The Prime Minister also faces a Jewish backlash after he sidestepped questions on whether Labor would preference anti-­Semitic Greens candidates at the upcoming federal election.

Echoing NSW Premier Chris Minns, Mr Albanese argued the latest Sydney attack, which followed one in the same suburb less than a month ago, was “not anti-Israel, but anti-Semitic”.

“I unequivocally condemn these shameful acts of violence aimed at the Jewish community,” he said, just a day after he was heckled by Jewish community leaders during a visit to a firebombed Melbourne synagogue.

“They are acts which are aimed at promoting fear in the community. And that, by any definition, is what terrorism is about.”

His comments came as his government confirmed it would back a resolution in the UN demanding “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza” and the release by Hamas of its Israeli hostages, and a second motion calling for unhindered access to the war-torn enclave for the UN’s Palestinian aid agency.

Labor’s support for the motions will stoke fresh condemnation by Jewish leaders who have accused Penny Wong of waging a “deeply cynical” and obsessive campaign against Israel after a speech this week in which she compared the democratic state’s actions with those of China and Russia.

Mr Albanese defended his senior cabinet colleague as an “outstanding Foreign Minister” who had “repaired our relations with great parts of the world”. “Penny Wong knows about racism. This is someone who understands very first-hand the damage that racism can cause,” he said.

Australia/Israel & Jewish ­Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said the government would be “very much” judged on the upcoming UN votes.

“If we voted for that again, then it casts very sceptical doubt about the sincerity … of the Prime Minister’s stance,” he said.

“They can’t differentiate ­between the victim and the ­perpetrator and of course, I think Penny Wong’s speech the other night is unsustainable, she’s just doubled down, she went for broke.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry deputy president Robert Goot, who accompanied Mr Albanese at the Jewish Museum, said Mr Albanese’s strong language on Wednesday was “positive and a hopeful sign for the future” but the direction of Labor’s foreign policy was still of concern.

“Of course there continue to be differences of views on the ­direction of Australian foreign policy, and we have sought a meeting with the Prime Minister to explain our position in detail,” he said.

Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said Labor’s language and its support for anti-Israel resolutions in the UN “had emboldened people to commit these heinous crimes that have no place in Australia”.

“What the Jewish community, indeed all of Australia are looking for is leadership on this issue, but sadly, the equivocation of the government,” she told Sunrise.

“The Prime Minister has emboldened and enabled those that are committing these horrific crimes that are unfair on a really important section of our society and our community, and our Jewish community.”

NSW Police on Wednesday launched a hunt for two young men believed to be connected to the graffiti attack, with NSW Premier Chris Minns vowing those responsible for the “hate crime” would face the full force of the law.

A stolen car believed to have been used by the perpetrators was set alight about 1am.

It came after last Friday’s arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in the Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea, which Mr Albanese later declared was an act of terrorism. The government set up a joint police-intelligence taskforce on Monday to investigate the attack and other anti-Jewish hate crimes.

Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who is Jewish, said the taskforce was welcome but the government needed to put a stop to broader pro-Palestinian protests.

“No more hateful chants, violent protests, wilful property damage and masked protesters. Only then, can we put a lid on the hate,” he said in a social media post.

“This is not about partisan politics. It’s about strong leadership. It’s about protecting Australian values, promoting social cohesion and securing the future of our country.”

Mr Minns has vowed to crack down on protests outside religious sites, in a move backed on Wednesday by Mr Albanese, who declared them “completely unacceptable”.

“I cannot conceive of any reason, apart from creating division in our community, of why someone would want to hold a demonstration outside a place of worship,” Mr Albanese said.

Declaring education as the answer to stamping out anti-Semitism, the Prime Minister announced $8.5m for a new Centre of Jewish Life and Tolerance, to sit alongside the Sydney Jewish Museum. The Coalition accused the government of playing catch-up, after announcing the same funding in October.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip joined Mr Minns at a Wednesday press conference but could not, however, bring himself to stand alongside Mr Albanese at the Sydney Jewish Museum.

Mr Ossip, one of the state’s most senior Jewish leaders, said: “I have only the greatest of respect for the office of Prime Minister and appreciate the donation to the museum, but I couldn’t bring myself to go and hear (Mr Albanese) talk about anti-Semitism while his government plots further policy moves against Israel and he fails to rein in his foreign minister who continues to use incendiary, demonising and provocative rhetoric that endangers the Jewish community.”

Mr Albanese with Holocaust survivors Eddie Friedlander, left, and Egon Sonnenschein at the Sydney Jewish Museum on Wednesday. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Amid a torrent of criticism of Israel by the Greens, Mr Albanese refused to rule out the possibility that Labor would preference the candidates from the minor party with anti-Semitic views, declaring such arrangements were made by the ALP’s organisational wing.

The Greens party announced this week it had picked Omar Sakr to contest cabinet minister Jason Clare’s Sydney seat of Blaxland despite his extreme views, including that Zionists were “privileged shits” who invoked the “Holocaust to shield their behaviour”.

The Greens also sparked outrage after the chief of staff to the party’s deputy leader, Mehreen Faruqi, suggested the Melbourne synagogue attack could have been a “false flag attack”. The staffer, former Guardian Australian journalist Antoun Issa, was “counselled” on Wednesday over the statement.

Adam Bandt on Wednesday said the attacks in recent weeks were “utterly unacceptable” and that there was “no place for them in our society”.

Wednesday’s graffiti attack sparked widespread condemnation across the Labor caucus, with frontbenchers including Senator Wong, Tony Burke, Jason Clare, Tim Ayers, Anne Aly, Clare O’Neil and Chris Bowen all publicly denouncing the incident.

Dr Aly, the first female Muslim MP to be elected to Australian parliament, said anti-Semitism in her local Jewish community in WA broke her heart.

“I don’t believe that any Australian – any Australian, regardless of your faith, regardless of your background, regardless of who you are – should feel unsafe,” she said.

“Now, I come from a minority faith myself. People know that about me, people understand that about me. And my faith, my faith community, has at times experienced periods of feeling unsafe as well.”

Opposition deputy leader Sussan Ley slammed the “awful, awful acts of intimidation” and raised concern over what would come next.

“I want to see arrests. I want to see action. I want to see strong leadership from the Prime Minister, and I’m not sure that we’re seeing that now,” she said on Sky News.