Anthony Albanese reaches out to Jewish community following terror attack

Anthony Albanese has declared there is ‘no place’ for anti-Semitism and hateful prejudice, announcing assisted departure flights to evacuate Australians from Israel.

Anthony Albanese at Melbourne’s St Kilda Hebrew Congregation on Wednesday. Picture: Jason Edwards

Anthony Albanese has declared that anti-Semitism and hateful prejudice have “no place in ­Australia” and announced plans to evacuate hundreds of Australians from Israel on special government-organised flights from ­Friday after the Jewish homeland was attacked by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

The Prime Minister met members of the Jewish community on Wednesday evening, addressing the St Kilda Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne following harsh criticism his government’s response was too soft on the pro-Palestine protests at the Sydney Opera House on Monday night where the Israeli flag was burned and anti-Semitic slogans were chanted.

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing a war of ­retaliation on Hamas and amid reports that 40 babies were slaughtered in a massacre at the kibbutz of Kfar Aza, Mr Albanese said his government would begin “the assisted departure of Australians who want to leave Israel” after 66-year-old grandmother, Galit Carbone, was revealed to be the first Australian citizen killed in the attack.

“Many of you will fear a rise in anti-Semitism here at home,” Mr Albanese said. “I want to assure you, that kind of hateful prejudice has no place in Australia. Our country is better than that – and our country is a better place because of you and your community. And my government is committed to keeping the community safe.

“Over thousands of years, Jewish people have summoned tremendous courage and resilience in the face of trauma. It must feel almost unbearable to have to draw on those strengths again. But I want to say very clearly: you are not alone.”

The synagogue visit is believed to be the first significant contact Mr Albanese has had with senior members of the Jewish community since Saturday’s attack on Israel. On Wednesday evening, Mr Albanese was yet to speak to Mr Netanyahu although it’s understood the Prime Minister’s office requested a call on the weekend.

Labor frontbenchers including Tanya Plibersek and Clare O’Neil strongly denounced pro-Palestinian protests in Australia, a day after senior western Sydney Labor MPs came under pressure for failing to full-throatedly condemn local anti-­Israel preachers.

Ms O’Neil, the Home Affairs Minister, revealed she had triggered a national co-ordination mechanism in response to the unfolding conflict between Israel and Palestine, bringing together relevant agencies to co-ordinate the federal government’s response.

She said the national co-­ordination mechanism had “not been triggered to an event like this ­before,” as Israel declared it was ­releasing “all restraints” on its combat troops ahead of a massive ground offensive on the Gaza Strip.

With Joe Biden condemning the “pure, unadulterated evil” unleashed by Hamas terrorists on the Jewish State, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the nation would soon extract vengeance on the Hamas terrorist group for its brutal attack that has killed at least 1200 people. “Whoever comes to decapitate, murder women, Holocaust survivors – we will eliminate him at the height of our power and without compromise,” Mr Gallant told soldiers.

Pope Francis on Wednesday night called for the immediate ­release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and expressed his concern for the Palestinians in the enclave.

Ms O’Neil will meet Jewish leaders and security experts on Thursday alongside Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to discuss what further steps the commonwealth could take to provide support to the Jewish community in Australia. She urged people not to attend any further protests that sought to celebrate or justify the attacks on Israel, arguing there were “real concerns that people in the Jewish community hold about the safety of their children and the safety of their homes and the safety of their synagogues”.

Former Labor deputy leader, Ms Plibersek branded the attacks by Hamas as abhorrent and urged Australians to “behave appropriately, de-escalate any violence here, respect the law”. “It is important to say there is no place for hatred or vilification or any sort of threats here in Australia,” she said.

However, Ms Pilbersek’s office also confirmed that part-time electorate staffer Will Simmons had attended the pro-Palestine rally on Monday, despite Mr Albanese urging people not to attend.

It is understood Mr Simmons left before any of the scenes at the Opera House steps and was not part of any of the incidents. There is also no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of Mr Simmons, with a spokeswoman for Ms Plibersek saying the minister found out after the event and called Mr Simmons as soon as she found out.

“He knows this is absolutely unacceptable – he should never have been there,” she said.

Responding to criticism from Peter Dutton that it was “unbelievable” the government had not yet convened a national ­security committee meeting in response to the events in the Middle East, Mr Albanese declared the issue was not a “political game”.

“We don’t foreshadow when NSC meets,” the Prime Minister said. “We don’t produce the minutes of NSC. That’s the way that national security, diplomacy and intelligence should operate. These are serious issues … And quite frankly, I don’t intend to hold press conferences and ­announce intelligence briefings.”

Members of the Jewish ­community told The Australian they were astounded the Prime Minister had not called a ­meeting of cabinet’s national security committee following the attack, amid fears for the safety of the more than 10,000 Australians in Israel.

As the Israeli death toll passed 1200, one senior member of the community said the Prime Minister’s lack of contact was consistent with Labor’s recent hardening of its position on Israel, which declared the West Bank and Gaza as “occupied Palestinian territories” and Israeli settlements as ­“illegal”.

Mr Albanese said Australians who wanted to leave Israel on ­assisted departure flights must register with the government’s 24-hour consular emergency centre.

“There will be two flights to begin with and we are working on additional options,” he said.

The flights will be made available by Qantas from Friday and take passengers from Ben Gurion Airport in Israel to London and will be operated free of charge. As of Wednesday evening, about 800 Australians had registered with the consular emergency centre.

Qantas said it had put in place the arrangements following a request from the Australian government and it was expected that a Boeing 787 Dreamliner would operate from Tel Aviv in the coming days.

Federal Greens leader Adam Bandt condemned anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in a statement, after the NSW Greens opposed a parliamentary motion condemning the attacks by Hamas.

As the ACT Greens endorsed a pro-Palestine rally scheduled for Canberra on Friday, NSW Greens upper house members opposed a motion from Labor’s Bob Nanva to support Israel.

The Greens attempted to amend the motion to express support for “Palestinians bombed by Israel” and denounce the “Palestinian occupation”.

Mr Bandt, when forced to clarify the party’s position, ­declared the conflict had brought “pain and grief to so many, and there is no place to worsen that through hateful and violent racism and bigotry, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia”.

“For there to be a lasting peace there must be an end to the State of Israel‘s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories,” Mr Bandt said.

Additional reporting: Alexi Demetriadi, Jess Malcolm