Sheik Ibrahim Dadoun says Mossad ‘manufactured’ Australia’s anti-Semitism crisis
A prominent sheik has claimed there was a ‘real possibility’ that Australia’s violent wave of anti-Semitism had ‘likely been manufactured’ by Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad.
A prominent Sydney sheik has claimed there was a real possibility Australia’s violent wave of anti-Semitism had been “manufactured” by Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad.
The claim by Sheik Ibrahim Dadoun – until recently a director at the country’s peak Muslim body – comes after ASIO director-general Mike Burgess warned about hostile foreign states operating in Australia and said he had “grave concerns” that anti-Semitism was a hatred that defied logic and was likely to get worse.
“When will the ASIO boss tell Australians if the Mossad had anything to do with the wave of manufactured anti-Semitic attacks conducted by known criminals,” the sheik told his supporters on the weekend.
“If it (the attacks) were Iran, it would have been plastered all over the news. If it was China we would have known about it.”
The sheik also claimed Mr Burgess believed the “hostile states” could be allies or friends to Australia who wanted to intervene in domestic politics and “affect social cohesion”.
“Given that Israel is seen as a ‘friend’ to Australia, it is highly likely, in fact plausible, and a real possibility that Mossad manufactured (the) wave of anti-Semitic attacks,” Sheik Dadoun said.
Although far-left pro-Palestine activists and radical fringe preachers have told their social media followers Australia’s anti-Semitic attacks were co-ordinated by Israel, it is the first time a relatively mainstream Muslim leader has made that claim.
Despite having no intelligence to back up his Mossad claim, Sheik Dadoun called on Mr Burgess to “disclose” what he knew about the anti-Semitic attacks.
“For now, it is highly likely that this (Mossad’s ‘manufactured’ anti-Semitic attacks) is the scenario authorities are dealing with in Australia,” he said.
The sheik was a director at the Australian National Imams Council until late 2024, but still works for the United Muslims of Australia, which The Australian revealed had until 2023 enlisted the services of a prominent Hizb ut-Tahrir activist, a group Sheik Dadoun has himself been associated with.
The sheik’s Mossad comments come after Mr Burgess last week said “hostile nations” could be using domestic criminals to advance their own strategic interests, amid a possible overlap with recent anti-Semitic attacks and after the Australian Federal Police said in January it was investigating information that led to a similar belief.
Speaking to The Australian on Friday, the ASIO chief said anti-Semitism was a form of hate that defied logic, was un-Australian and likely to get worse, and on Wednesday said: “ASIO investigations have identified at least three different countries plotting to physically harm people living in Australia. In a small number of cases, we held grave fears for the life of the person being targeted.”
Although Mr Burgess said ASIO was targeting foreign interference, he did not suggest “friendly nations” had been behind Australia’s violent anti-Semitism wave.
The Australian revealed in January how two men arrested by NSW Police’s anti-Semitism strike force for a botched arson attack in Bondi last year had been paid and co-ordinated by an Australia-based criminal known only as “James Bond”.
Jewish leaders slammed the sheik and his claims, saying his views were no surprise and only served to amplify conspiracy theories.
“This is precisely the level of insight we would expect from a man who looked at medieval savagery, rape, decapitation, abduction and reacted with glee,” Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said.
Sheik Dadoun rose to national prominence the day after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacres when he told a Lakemba rally organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir that he was “smiling” and “elated”.
“It’s a day of courage, it’s a day of resistance, it’s a day of pride, it’s a day of victory,” the sheik said, later claiming he had been taken out of context and was referring only to Palestinians breaking free from Gaza and not Hamas’s attacks, despite the two being intrinsically linked.
“The problem is not that figures like Dadoun hold such views, it is that they hold positions of influence in their communities, which they use to spout conspiracy theories,” Mr Ryvchin said.
“This is creating a generational problem. The Jewish community is of course appalled by his comments but the condemnation should be led by other Islamic leaders, as well as politicians and civil society, to ensure such views never become acceptable.”
After a stint as ANIC public relations director Sheik Dadoun then became one of the group’s statutory directors, until October 2024 when he left the organisation, The Australian can reveal.
He remains one of the imams of the UMA, however, and the Coalition has slammed his continued involvement with that group – which received more than $3m in federal funding last year – calling on Anthony Albanese to stop grants to the body. Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said there was “zero evidence” for the sheik’s claims but that his standing in the community would unfortunately help circulate conspiratorial myths.
“It’s grossly irresponsible to promote unfounded conspiracy theories like this in the middle of an anti-Semitism crisis,” said Senator Paterson, repeating calls for the government to rescind funding to groups that “employed Dadoun” and others who peddled mistruths.
“It’s grotesquely anti-Semitic to blame Jews for attacks on their own community.”
The Australian revealed last week how Hizb ut-Tahrir and Stand 4 Palestine activist Mohammed al-Wahwah worked with the UMA for a five-year period from 2019, running youth-focused programs and prayer sessions.
Sheik Dadoun was also one of more than 50 Muslim groups and leaders to sign a communique barracking for two suspended Bankstown Hospital nurses, denying their threats to “kill Israelis” were anti-Semitic, instead saying the pair were “victims” of “manufactured outrage”.
NSW Police’s Strike Force Pearl – established to investigate crimes of an anti-Semitic nature – last week arrested and laid charges against a 13th person, Scott Marshall, in relation to a vandalism attack in Woollahra in December.
Mr Marshall was named in a search warrant, along with his partner, Tammie Farrugia, after an explosives-filled caravan was discovered in Dural in Sydney’s northwest with a list of Jewish “targets”.
Both are in police custody and Ms Farrugia was charged in January in relation to that Woollahra anti-Semitic vandalism attack.
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