Anthony Albanese in private: ‘Blames Trotskyists for university protests, will speak strongly’

Leading rabbis say Anthony Albanese used a private meeting to label pro-Palestine protesters encamped at universities as ‘Trots’ who were ignorant of Middle East history.

Anthony Albanese with Jewish leaders on Friday. Picture: PMO

Leading rabbis say Anthony Albanese used a private meeting to dismiss pro-Palestine protesters encamped at universities as “Trots” who were ignorant of Middle East history, with leading Jewish MP Julian Leeser calling for a judicial inquiry into anti-Semitism on campuses.

Multiple rabbis who attended the hour-plus meeting at Central Synagogue in Bondi Junction confirmed the Prime Minister had described the protesters as “Trots” – short for Trotskyists – and had committed to “unequivocally fight anti-Semitism”.

One source at the meeting, convened by rabbinical councils and Jewish leaders, claimed Mr Albanese said a lot of university protesters were “just Trots who are just looking to instigate and make trouble”. Rabbinical Council of Australasia president Rabbi Nochum Schapiro confirmed Mr Albanese’s “Trots” comment.

“That’s what he said. “He didn’t have to say more – we understood what he meant,” he told The Weekend Australian.

The Central Synagogue’s Rabbi Levi Wolff also confirmed the remark. “That’s what he labelled them,” he said. “It was very dismissive of them. He even said, ‘what do these people think? That the Jewish people came to Israel only in 1948? Do they not know the history?’.

“He was very concerned. He’s also obviously very disappointed in how things are unfolding. He’s being hounded himself wherever he goes by people who are absolutely crazy, and they’re making his life miserable.”

Rabbi Wolff said the Prime Minister took a lot of notes and “said he’d like to come out a lot stronger than perhaps in the past”.

A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said: “We don’t comment on discussions that happen in private meetings. The Prime Minister was pleased to meet with and listen to the rabbinical councils from across the country today … and speak about the government’s commitment to the safety of Jewish Australians.

“Anti-Semitism has no place in Australia, nor does racism or the targeting of any group.”

Later on Friday evening, Mr Leeser used an address at the Central Synagogue to call for a judicial inquiry into anti-Semitism on Australian campuses, saying universities had “lost their way” and risked losing funding and falling down international rankings.

Mr Leeser, who describes himself as a “proud public Jew”, accused vice-chancellors of a “failure of leadership” and caring more about “adorning their own necks with AOs and ACs than ensuring the students in their care can get their own start in life”.

“For me, ground zero in Australia is our campuses,” he said.

Amid escalating tensions across key Australian universities where pro-Palestinian supporters have established encampments to protest the Gaza war, Mr Leeser said the nation was witnessing “a failure in propagating our Australian values” and “a failure in enforcing the law”.

“The idea that young Jewish Australians do not feel safe getting an education is anathema to me,” he said. “Our universities are failing the principle test of character.”

Mr Leeser said it was time for Education Minister Jason Clare to “step up”, and accused the government of being “hamstrung by Labor’s Corbynite left and its fear of the Greens an teals”.

Encampments have been established at major universities including Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland and the ANU, inspired by the pro-Palestinian movement sweeping US college campuses, where classes have been cancelled and police have reportedly made more than 2000 arrests.

Australian protesters have issued demands for universities to cut ties with weapons manufacturers and Israeli research bodies, but vice-chancellors have said there is not yet any replication of the violence being seen in the US.

This is despite calls by Australian protesters – some of which have been led by young children – for an intifada, as well as public statements of support for Hamas, which slaughtered 1200 Israelis on October 7, and demands that Israel be wiped off the map.

University of Sydney vice-chancellor and Group of Eight chair Mark Scott told ABC radio on Friday the pro-Palestine encampment at Sydney comprised about 60 people, less than 0.1 per cent of the student population. “We’ve cancelled no classes,” he said. “Overwhelmingly, though, the encampment has been peaceful and, I think, respectful.”

While Professor Scott understood Jewish students and staff would prefer the encampment was not there, he rejected arguments the university was “an unsafe space” and confirmed it was carefully monitoring complaints of anti-Semitism. He said the university was trying to ensure the protests did not escalate. “If you look at what has happened in the United States, universities have taken action and the day after that, it’s more violent.”

Rabbi Schapiro said Mr Albanese seemed “very much against” the anti-Semitism on university campuses.

“The lack of ability to have a conversation about issues – he himself said he feels it himself: outside his electorate office, there are demonstrators constantly,” Rabbi Schapiro said. “He said it’s unacceptable for Jewish people to feel that there are places they can’t go – that they feel uncomfortable going.”

A statement released by the rabbinical councils after the meeting said Mr Albanese “expressed his deep regret for the breakdown in civil discourse”.

“The Prime Minister also reiterated his support for the Jewish people’s historic connection to the land of Israel and Israel’s right to exist in peace and security, and its right to defend itself,” the statement said.

Mr Albanese has also visited mosques in his capacity as Prime Minister, including as recently as April 26, when he was invited to speak at the Baitul Huda Mosque at Marsden Park for the funeral of Bondi Junction stabbing victim Faraz Tahir.

Mr Leeser said universities had a long tradition of protests where young people challenged authority, but argued these protests were different. “They aren’t protests against authority. They are protests against the presence of other students and staff.

“The conflict in Gaza is the thin veneer or the excuse to protest the presence of Jewish students and staff. In coming months, these protests will take full flight during university open days, because these protests are not about Gaza, they are about making young Jewish Australians feel unwelcome on Australian campuses.

“It is pure anti-Semitism.”

Mr Leeser said he would move a private member’s bill this month to “establish an independent judicial inquiry into anti-Semitism on Australia’s campuses”. He wanted an inquiry conducted by a judicial leader who was “widely respected” to “give Jewish students and staff the confidence to come forward”.

The indicative terms of reference Mr Leeser proposed would allow the inquiry to report on the incidence of anti-Semitic activity at universities, including violence, intimidation and support for listed terrorist organisations.

Mr Clare said on Friday there was “no place for anti-Semitism, Islamophobia or racism of any kind in our universities or anywhere else”.