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Australian Jewish Leader Urges Continued Vigilance on Antisemitic Hate Crimes After Police Label Bomb Threat ‘Fake’
Car in New South Wales, Australia graffitied with antisemitic message. Photo: Screenshot
A top Australian Jewish leader has expressed disappointment with a recent announcement by police that an incident involving an abandoned caravan filled with explosives and antisemitic writings was “fake,” arguing law enforcement downplayed the severity of a recent spree of crimes targeting the Jewish community.
Alex Ryvchin — co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), an organization which advocates upholding the civil rights of the country’s some 120,000 Jewish citizens — on Monday urged Australian authorities to remain vigilant against antisemitism.
“We learned that in addition to everything we faced over the past 17 months, the doxxing, the vilification, the harassment, everything happening at schools and universities,” Ryvchin said during an appearance on Sky News. “On top of all that, you now have hardened criminals paying off lowly hoodlums to set fire to our buildings and cars and set our streets ablaze with reckless disregard for what happens.”
He continued, “But for some reason, the police in announcing this chose to completely downplay it, refer to it as a con job, and a fake.”
Ryvchin explained the framing had now “allowed negative actors who have tried to downplay it [the rise in antisemitism] this whole time to now galvanize and to try to dampen all the momentum and the enthusiasm for actually solving this problem. So, it’s really incredibly disappointing.”
Earlier this month, Australian police announced that an organized crime group had created a fake bomb threat intended to draw law enforcement resources, rather than a genuine targeting of Jews.
“It was about causing chaos within the community, causing threat, causing angst, diverting police resources away from their day jobs, to have them focus on matters that would allow them to get up to or engage in other criminal activity,” Dave Hudson, New South Wales (NSW) Deputy Police Commissioner, said in statement.
Krissy Barrett, the Australian Federal Police’s Deputy Commissioner for National Security, described the incident as “fake,” a “fabricated terrorism plot,” and a “criminal con job,” adding, “The plan was the following: organize for someone to buy a caravan, place it with explosives and written material of antisemitic nature, leave it in a specific location and then, once that happened, inform law enforcement about an impending terror attack against Jewish Australians. We believe the person pulling the strings wanted changes to their criminal status but maintained a distance from their scheme and hired alleged local criminals to carry out parts of their plan.”
Then last week, NSW Police and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) released a statement that they had arrested and charged 14 members of an organized crime group, allegedly involved in a series of antisemitic hate crimes.
“None of the individuals we have arrested … have displayed any form of antisemitic ideology,” Hudson said. “I think these organized crime figures have taken an opportunity to play off the vulnerability of the Jewish community.”
However, Ryvchin told ABC Radio that law enforcement should not be so quick to dismiss the role fo antisemitism, noting the historic surge in antisemitic attacks across Australia in recent months.
“I don’t feel we can definitively draw that conclusion,” he said. “Ultimately, the things that we’ve seen took place. They weren’t hoaxes. This is part of something transpiring in broader society. The fact that a criminal network with no apparent ideological links to antisemitism thought fit to latch on to what’s happening shows how deep-seated the problem already was.”
The Australian Jewish Association (AJA) has challenged the claim that the crimes were hoaxes, sharing a news article last week reporting that the man charged with allegedly orchestrating the series of crimes had posted antisemitic comments online.
Surprised?
So the Islamic alleged mastermind of the ‘not antisemitic’ bomb targeting Jewish institutions has a history of making Nazi and anti-Israel posts.
We know the Albanese Govt pressured the police to declare the explosives targeting the Jewish community were not… pic.twitter.com/8Ed6hndFpM
— Australian Jewish Association (@AustralianJA) March 14, 2025
Also last week, NSW Premier Chris Minns pushed back against calls for repeals of news laws passed in response to the recent wave of hate crimes. Among other measures, the laws imprison those who make terror threats or perform Nazi salutes.
“While these laws were drafted in response to horrifying antisemitism, we have always made clear they would apply to anyone, preying on any person, at any time. In response to calls for the laws to be scrapped, doing so would be a toxic message to our community that this kind of hate speech is acceptable when it’s not,” Minns said. “These laws are very important to maintaining social cohesion.”
On Monday, the Palestine Action Group reportedly filed suit in the NSW Supreme court, charging that the laws were unconstitutional, infringing on “constitutional freedom of communication on government or political matters.”
Southeastern Australia saw a string of hate crimes targeting Jews from November through January. These included cars set on fire and antisemitic graffiti targeting synagogues as well as other Jewish buildings.
That followed the ECAJ releasing a report last year showing that antisemitism in Australia quadrupled to record levels over the past year, with Australian Jews experiencing more than 2,000 antisemitic incidents between October 2023 and September 2024.
The post Australian Jewish Leader Urges Continued Vigilance on Antisemitic Hate Crimes After Police Label Bomb Threat ‘Fake’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really?
JNS.org – If I asked you to name the most famous line in the Bible, what would you answer? While Shema Yisrael (“Hear O’Israel”) might get many votes, I imagine that the winning line would be “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18). Some religions refer to it as the Golden Rule, but all would agree that it is fundamental to any moral lifestyle. And it appears this week in our Torah reading, Kedoshim.
This is quite a tall order. Can we be expected to love other people as much as we love ourselves? Surely, this is an idealistic expectation. And yet, the Creator knows us better than we know ourselves. How can His Torah be so unrealistic?
The biblical commentaries offer a variety of explanations. Some, like Rambam (Maimonides), say that the focus should be on our behavior, rather than our feelings. We are expected to try our best or to treat others “as if” we genuinely love them.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, in his classic text called the Tanya, argues that the actual feelings of love are, in fact, achievable provided that we focus on a person’s spirituality rather than how they present themselves physically. If we can put the soul over the body, we can do it.
Allow me to share the interpretation of the Ramban (Nachmanides), a 13th-century Torah scholar from Spain. His interpretation of the verses preceding love thy neighbor is classic and powerful, yet simple and straightforward.
“Do not hate your brother in your heart. You shall rebuke him, but do not bear a sin because of him” by embarrassing him in public. “Do not take revenge, and do not bear a grudge against your people. You shall love your fellow as yourself, I am God” (Leviticus 19:17-18).
What is the connection between these verses? Why is revenge and grudge-bearing in the same paragraph as love your fellow as yourself?
A careful reading shows that within these two verses are no less than six biblical commandments. But what is their sequence all about, and what is the connection between them?
The Ramban explains it beautifully, showing how the sequence of verses is deliberate and highlighting the Torah’s profound yet practical advice on how to maintain healthy relationships.
Someone wronged you? Don’t hate him in your heart. Speak to him. Don’t let it fester until it bursts, and makes you bitter and sick.
Instead, talk it out. Confront the person. Of course, do it respectfully. Don’t embarrass anyone in public, so that you don’t bear a sin because of them. But don’t let your hurt eat you up. Communicate!
If you approach the person who wronged you—not with hate in your heart but with respectful reproof—one of two things will happen. Either he or she will apologize and explain their perspective on the matter. Or that it was a misunderstanding and will get sorted out between you. Either way, you will feel happier and healthier.
Then you will not feel the need to take revenge or even to bear a grudge.
Here, says the Ramban, is the connection between these two verses. And if you follow this advice, only then will you be able to observe the commandment to Love Thy Neighbor. If you never tell him why you are upset, another may be completely unaware of his or her wrongdoing, and it will remain as a wound inside you and may never go away.
To sum up: Honest communication is the key to loving people.
Now, tell me the truth. Did you know that not taking revenge is a biblical commandment? In some cultures in Africa, revenge is a mitzvah! I’ve heard radio talk-show hosts invite listeners to share how they took “sweet revenge” on someone, as if it’s some kind of accomplishment.
Furthermore, did you know that bearing a grudge is forbidden by biblical law?
Here in South Africa, people refer to a grudge by its Yiddish name, a faribel. In other countries, people call it a broiges. Whatever the terminology, the Torah states explicitly: “Thou shalt not bear a grudge!” Do not keep a faribel, a broiges or resentment of any kind toward someone you believe wronged you. Talk to that person. Share your feelings honestly. If you do it respectfully and do not demean the other’s dignity, then it can be resolved. Only then will you be able to love your fellow as yourself.
May all our grudges and feelings of resentment toward others be dealt with honestly and respectfully. May all our grudges be resolved as soon as possible. Then we will all be in a much better position to love our neighbors as ourselves.
The post Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Nonsense’: Huckabee Shoots Down Report Trump to Endorse Palestinian Statehood
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday dismissed as nonsensical the report that President Donald Trump would endorse Palestinian statehood during his tour to the Persian Gulf this week.
“This report is nonsense,” Huckabee harrumphed on his X account, blasting the Jerusalem Post as needing better sourced reporting. “Israel doesn’t have a better friend than the president of the United States.”
Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The leader’s first trip overseas since he took office comes as Trump seeks the Gulf countries’ support in regional conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and curbing Iran’s advancing nuclear program.
However, reports citing administration insiders claimed that Trump has also set his sights on the ambitious goal of expanding the Abraham Accords. These agreements, initially signed in 2020, normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. The accords are widely held to be among the most important achievements of the first Trump administration.
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US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Unless significant progress is registered in Sunday’s round of nuclear talks with Iran, the US will consider putting the military option back on the table, sources close to US envoy Steve Witkoff told i24NEWS.
American and Iranian representatives voiced optimism after the previous talks that took place in Oman and Rome, saying there was a friendly atmosphere despite the two countries’ decades of enmity.
However the two sides are not believed to have thrashed out the all-important technical details, and basic questions remain.
The source has also underscored the significance of the administration’s choice of Michael Anton, the State Department’s policy planning director, as the lead representative in the nuclear talks’ technical phases.
Anton is “an Iran expert and someone who knows how to cut a deal with Iran,” the source said, saying that the choice reflected Trump’s desire to secure the deal.
The post US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.