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Australia’s Jewish Community Faces an Election — and an Unprecedented Threat
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during a press conference at the Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, June 17, 2024. Photo: Lukas Coch/Pool via REUTERS
On May 3, 2025, Australians will head to the polls in one of the most pivotal elections in recent memory — especially for Australian Jews.
This vote comes after a harrowing period of unprecedented hostility toward the Jewish community in Australia, triggered by the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in Israel. That day shattered not only lives in Israel but also the illusion of safety that Jews in the Diaspora — including in Australia — once held dear.
Almost overnight, antisemitism, often masquerading as anti-Zionism, became rampant. Empathy for Israel and the Jewish people, reeling from the greatest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, was alarmingly in short supply.
Even more disturbingly, this hatred erupted in Western democracies — nations that should have stood in solidarity with Israel, a fellow democracy under attack by genocidal terrorists.
Nations like Australia.
Long considered a peaceful haven for Jews, Australia proved to be no exception. Far away from the conflicts of the Middle East and even further away from the baggage of thousands of years of ingrained antisemitism in Europe, our country was about as distant and far removed from these ancient hatreds as could be.
But no more.
On October 9, 2023 — as Israelis were still identifying their dead — the Sydney Opera House was lit in blue and white in solidarity. But outside, a different scene played out. Demonstrators, claiming to support Palestinians, flooded the area, chanting “F— the Jews” and “F— Israel.”
Instead of dispersing this hate-filled rally, authorities warned Jews to stay away “for their own safety.” Only one person was arrested that night: a man displaying the Israeli flag.
That moment set the tone for what would become the most dangerous period in the history of Australian Jewry.
Rather than cracking down on the surge in antisemitism, the tepid response from authorities allowed it to flourish.
And flourish it did.
Hatred was no longer whispered in the darkened corners at the fringe of society, but shouted, broadcast, and celebrated in full public view.
Islamic clerics openly praised the Hamas massacre. Jewish institutions were targeted with graffiti, and Jewish schools were vandalized — including one in Melbourne where “Jewdie” was spray-painted on the walls. Worshipers at a synagogue were even forced to leave early after demonstrators descended on their suburb with the threat of violence in the air.
But it got worse.
On December 6, 2024, the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was firebombed in the early hours of the morning, with some worshippers narrowly escaping with their lives.
A December 2024 Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) report recorded a staggering 316% increase in antisemitic attacks since October 7, 2023 — a level not seen since the Holocaust. Those figures didn’t even include the firebombing attack.
Then, in January, Ice Hockey Australia canceled its hosting of a key international tournament — not to protect Jewish athletes, but, allegedly, to shield the Israeli team from anti-Israel protestors.
The current Labor government is not the cause of this antisemitism. But its failure to confront it robustly has contributed to its escalation. Since its election in May 2022, it has shattered the warm bipartisan relationship that existed between the two countries. It has voted for biased one-sided resolutions against Israel at the United Nations, while constantly criticizing Israel’s efforts to defend itself.
While it has in recent months appeared to finally take the threat of antisemitism more seriously — including setting up a special federal task force to crack down on antisemitism, as well as appointing a special a Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism — it does beg the question: What took so long? The damage has already been done.
Jews feel less secure now in Australia than they ever had, and the government bears a responsibility for that.
Just days ago, neo-Nazi flyers — adorned with Liberal Party logos — appeared in the mailboxes of Jewish homes in Caulfield, Melbourne, filled with antisemitic tropes about Jews and money. Members of the same hate group were seen outside voting booths dressed as Hasidic Jews, distributing flyers that read: “Giving the Jews everything they want.” Posters of both Jewish and non-Jewish candidates were defaced with red spray-painted Stars of David.
The image of Australia as a tolerant society for Jews has been severely strained, perhaps even shattered. Whether the ineffective Labor government remains in power, as it’s projected to do, or the more pro-Israel Liberal Party takes over, the road ahead for Australia’s Jews remains uncertain and dangerously perilous.
The antisemitic genie has been let out of the bottle — and putting it back in will not be easy.
Justin Amler is a policy analyst at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).
The post Australia’s Jewish Community Faces an Election — and an Unprecedented Threat first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Former Columbia University President Appointed as UK Economic Adviser
Columbia University administrators and faculty, led by President Minouche Shafik, testified before the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 17, 2024. Photo: Jack Gruber/Reuters Connect
i24 News – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has named Minouche Shafik, former president of Columbia University, as his chief economic adviser at Downing Street, a move aimed at stabilizing the country’s fragile economy and averting a potential budget crisis.
Shafik, an economist of Egyptian origin with dual British and American nationality, has held senior roles at the Bank of England, the IMF, and the World Bank.
She later led the London School of Economics and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2020.
Her tenure in the United States was more turbulent. Shafik stepped down as president of Columbia University in 2024 after just a year in office, amid fierce criticism over her handling of pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.
US officials accused her of failing to confront antisemitism on campus, while students and faculty condemned her decision to call in police to dismantle protest encampments.
Since returning to Britain, Shafik has played an active role in policy and cultural institutions. She advised Foreign Secretary David Lammy on international aid reform, has chaired the Victoria & Albert Museum since January, and led the “Economy 2030” inquiry for the Resolution Foundation, where she argued for reforms to the UK’s system of wealth taxation.
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Israel Mulls West Bank Annexation in Response to Moves to Recognize Palestine
The Jordan Valley. Photo: Юкатан via Wikimedia Commons.
Israel is considering annexation in the West Bank as a possible response to France and other countries recognizing a Palestinian state, according to three Israeli officials and the idea will be discussed further on Sunday, another official said.
Extension of Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank – de facto annexation of land captured in the 1967 Middle East war – was on the agenda for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet meeting late on Sunday that is expected to focus on the Gaza war, a member of the small circle of ministers said.
It is unclear where precisely any such measure would be applied and when, whether only in Israeli settlements or some of them, or in specific areas of the West Bank like the Jordan Valley and whether any concrete steps, which would likely entail a lengthy legislative process, would follow discussions.
Any step toward annexation in the West Bank would likely draw widespread condemnation from the Palestinians, who seek the territory for a future state, as well as Arab and Western countries. It is unclear where US President Donald Trump stands on the matter. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar did not respond to a request for comment on whether Saar had discussed the move with his US counterpart Marco Rubio during his visit to Washington last week.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the prime minister supports annexation and if so, where.
A past pledge by Netanyahu to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley was scrapped in 2020 in favor of normalizing ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the Abraham Accords brokered by Trump in his first term in office.
The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The United States said on Friday it would not allow Abbas to travel to New York for the United Nations gathering of world leaders, where several US allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.
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Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli forces pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving more families out of the area as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was set on Sunday to discuss a plan to seize the city.
Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighborhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout Saturday and on Sunday, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.
The Israeli military has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks, and on Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone.”
“They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave,” said Rezik Salah, a father of two, from Sheikh Radwan.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu’s security cabinet will convene on Sunday evening to discuss the next stages of the planned offensive to seize Gaza City, which he has described as Hamas’ last bastion.
A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian population before moving more ground forces in.
HAMAS SPOKESPERSON TARGETED
Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israeli forces had targeted Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’ armed wing. Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Abu Ubaida was killed. Two Hamas officials contacted by Reuters did not respond to requests for comment.
Gaza health authorities said 15 people, including five children, were killed in the attack on a residential building in the heart of Gaza City.
Abu Ubaida, also known as Hozayfa Al-Khalout, is a well-known figure to Palestinians and Israelis alike, close to Hamas’ top military leaders and in charge of delivering the group’s messages, often via video, for around two decades, delivering statements while wearing a red keffiyeh that concealed his face.
The US targeted him with sanctions in April 2024, accusing him of leading the “cyber influence department” of al-Qassam Brigades.
In his last statement on Friday, he warned that the planned Israeli offensive on Gaza City would endanger the hostages.
On Saturday, Red Cross head Mirjana Spoljaric said an evacuation from the city would provoke a massive population displacement that no other area in the enclave is equipped to absorb, with shortages of food, shelter and medical supplies.
“People who have relatives in the south left to stay with them. Others, including myself, didn’t find a space as Deir Al-Balah and Mawasi are overcrowded,” said Ghada, a mother of five from the city’s Sabra neighborhood.
Around half of the enclave’s more than 2 million people are presently in Gaza City. Several thousand were estimated to have left the city for central and southern areas of the enclave.
Israel’s military has warned its political leaders that the offensive is endangering hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza. Protests in Israel calling for an end to the war and the release of the hostages have intensified in the past few weeks.