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Top Israeli Mental Health Doctor Axed From Conference in Australia After Threats From Pro-Hamas Activists
Israeli mental health expert Dr. Moshe Farchi. Photo: Screenshot
A world-renowned Israeli expert on trauma who developed Israel’s national model for addressing mental health emergencies has been axed from a medical conference in Australia after organizers were inundated with threats from pro-Hamas agitators.
Dr. Moshe Farchi — founder and head of Stress, Trauma and Resilience Studies in the department of Social Work at Tel-Hai College, a branch of Tel Aviv University — had been due to speak at the Frontline Mental Health Conference in the Gold Coast which opened on Monday. According to the Australian Jewish Association (AJA), which has been publicizing Farchi’s treatment at the hands of conference organizers, the speaking invitation was extended six months ago. Farchi had already made the trip to Australia when he was informed that his appearance had been canceled along with his hotel accommodation.
“The actions of the organisers are a stain on Australia’s reputation and reminiscent of Nazi boycotts of Jewish academics,” Robert Gregory, AJA’s chief executive, said in a statement. “Dr Farchi said that he has never experienced such antisemitism in his long career in academia. If there is a threat to Jews attending the conference, the organizers should have hired security, not expelled the Jew.”
In an email to Farchi, the Australia and New Zealand Mental Health Association, which is hosting the conference, said that the “influx of communications and protest-related information we’ve received in the past 24 hours has necessitated that we prioritize our duty of care above all else.”
The association told Farchi that it was “unable to accommodate your attendance and have consequently cancelled your registration for the Frontline Mental Health Conference.” The group assured Farchi that his travel expenses would be covered nonetheless.
According to Samantha Collingridge, general manager of AST Management, which is staging the conference, calls protesting Farchi’s presence started coming in last Friday.
“This continued throughout the weekend. Our security expert advised us that, based on the volume and nature of the abuse, there was insufficient time to conduct a thorough risk assessment at the hotel to ensure the safety of the 280-plus conference attendees. Dr Farchi was scheduled to speak at the conference today, March 4,” she said. As a result of AST’s assessement, said Sam Stewart, the association’s CEO, Farchi’s speech was nixed.
“The association has not taken a position on the current conflict between Palestine and Israel,” Stewart added.
A wide range of Jewish groups slammed the decision to remove Farchi, who also serves as Lt. Col. in the IDF and is one of the top mental health experts in the Israeli military.
Farchi’s speech “was cancelled because of the threat of violence of a bigoted few. He was cancelled because conference organizers folded in the face of intimidation,” said Jeremy Liebler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA). “The intimidation tactics that led to the cancellation were bred in antisemitism. Those behind this move object to the existence of the world’s only Jewish state.”
Zeddy Lawrence — executive director of Zionism Victoria, which hosted Farchi for two talks in Melbourne last week — told the J-wire news outlet that the “feedback we had from those who attended Dr Farchi’s public address in Melbourne as well as those professionals who took part in his workshop the following day was exceptional.”
Added Lawrence: “What a travesty that Australian and New Zealand mental health professionals have been prevented from hearing from him. What an outrageous and shameful way to treat an internationally renowned doctor who has travelled halfway around the world to address your members.”
Colin Rubenstein, executive director of the Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), remarked that the decision to cancel Farchi penalized local mental health professionals most of all.
“The biggest losers in this whole sorry affair were Australian frontline aid and emergency workers, who lost the ability to gain from Dr. Farchi’s unique and invaluable expertise in acute trauma and emergency mental health intervention,” he said. “Forged in Israel’s unique circumstances, this is expertise and experience they are not likely to have access to from any other source.”
In an interview with Sky News Australia, Farchi confessed that he had “not expected this kind of welcome.”
“I was really surprised,” he said. “I have so many good friends in Australia, so many people from my profession who I know quite well.”
One of the groups behind the protests against Farchi, calling itself “Families for Palestine,” on Monday welcomed the news of his cancelation.
The group had earlier launched a change.org petition calling on organizers to “retract Moshe Farchi’s invitation and instead prioritize speakers who align with the values of justice, equity, and solidarity, including voices from Palestine.”
The post Top Israeli Mental Health Doctor Axed From Conference in Australia After Threats From Pro-Hamas Activists first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel’s Supreme Court Orders Improved Food for Security Prisoners
Israel’s Supreme Court. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday instructed the Prison Service (Shabas) to guarantee adequate food supplies for security prisoners, ruling that current conditions fall short of minimum legal standards. The decision followed an appeal filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
In a 2–1 ruling, the court found that the food situation posed “a risk of non-compliance with legal standards.” Justice Dafna Barak-Erez stressed that the matter concerned “basic conditions necessary for survival, as required by law,” not comfort or privilege. Justice Ofer Grosskopf agreed, noting the state had not shown the policy was consistently applied to all inmates.
Justice David Mintz dissented, maintaining that the existing policy already met legal requirements.
The court underscored that Israel’s legal obligations remain binding, even in light of the ongoing hostage crisis in Gaza and the fact that many of the prisoners include Hamas members involved in the October 7, 2023 attack.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir condemned the ruling, arguing that while hostages in Gaza lack protection, “terrorist murderers, kidnappers, and rapists in prison” benefit from the Court’s intervention. He added that prisoners would continue receiving only the minimum conditions required by law.
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Ukrainian Government Building Set Ablaze in Record Russian Airstrike
Illustrative. More damage caused by the Russian drone that hit the Perlina school in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 30, 2024. Photo: Jewish community JCC in Kyiv, Kyiv municipality, and Yan Dobronosov
i24 News – The Ukrainian government’s main building in Kyiv was hit overnight Saturday by Russian airstrikes for the first time since the war, igniting a fire in the building, authorities said. Firefighters are working to put out the flames.
“The government building was damaged by an enemy attack — the roof and upper floors,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko said. The blaze is is burning in the area of the office of the prime minister.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched a total of 805 drones and 13 missiles overnight on Ukraine — a record number since the start of the war.
Also as a result of the strike, a baby and a young woman were killed after a nine-story residential building was hit in the Svyatoshynsky district, also in Kyiv. Rescuers are still looking for a third body, authorities said. A woman was also reported killed in the strike in Novopavlivka village.
“The world must respond to this destruction not only with words, but also with actions. We need to increase sanctions pressure – primarily against Russian oil and gas. We need new restrictions that will hit the Kremlin’s military machine. And most importantly, Ukraine needs weapons. Something that will stop the terror and prevent Russia from trying to kill Ukrainians every day,” wrote Sviridenko after the attack.
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‘Trump’s Legacy Crumbles’: Israelis Call on US President to End Gaza War
Israeli protestors take part in a rally demanding the immediate release of the hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the end of war in Gaza, in Jerusalem September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, issuing direct appeals to US President Donald Trump to force an end to the Gaza war and secure the release of the hostages.
Protesters packed a public square outside the military headquarters, waving Israeli flags and holding placards with images of the hostages. Some carried signs, including one that read: ‘Trump’s legacy crumbles as the Gaza war persists.’
Another said: “PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAVE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”
“We think that Trump is the only man in the world who has authority over Bibi, that can force Bibi to do this,” said Tel Aviv resident Boaz, 40, referring to the Israeli prime minister.
There is growing despair among many Israelis at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has ordered the military to capture a major urban center where hostages may be held.
Families of the hostages and their supporters fear the assault on Gaza City could endanger their loved ones, a concern the military leadership shares, according to Israeli officials.
Orna Neutra, the mother of an Israeli soldier who was killed on October 7, 2023 and whose body is being held in Gaza by militants, accused the government of abandoning its citizens.
“We truly hope that the United States will push both sides to finally reach a comprehensive deal that will bring them home,” she told the rally. Her son, Omer, is also American.
Tel Aviv has witnessed weekly demonstrations that have grown in size, with protesters demanding that the government secure a ceasefire with Hamas to obtain the release of hostages. Organizers said Saturday night’s rally was attended by tens of thousands. A large demonstration was also held in Jerusalem.
There are 48 hostages held in Gaza. Israeli officials believe that around 20 are still alive. Palestinian terrorists abducted 251 people from Israel on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led its attack. Most of the hostages who have been released were freed after indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
NO PURPOSE
Trump had pledged a swift end to the war in Gaza during his presidential campaign, but nearly eight months into his second term, a resolution has remained elusive. On Friday, he said that Washington was engaged in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas.
Israeli forces have carried out heavy strikes on the suburbs of Gaza City, where, according to a global hunger monitor, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing famine. Israeli officials acknowledge that hunger exists in Gaza but deny that the territory is facing famine. On Saturday, the military warned civilians in Gaza City to leave and move to southern Gaza.
There are hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in the city that was home to around a million before the war.
A video released by Hamas on Friday featured Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, saying that he was being held in Gaza City and feared being killed by the military’s assault on the city. Rights groups have condemned such videos of hostages as inhumane. Israel says that it is psychological warfare.
The war has become unpopular among some segments of Israeli society, and opinion polls show that most Israelis want Netanyahu’s right-wing government to negotiate a permanent ceasefire with Hamas that secures the release of the hostages.
“The war has no purpose at all, except for violence and death,” said Boaz from Tel Aviv. Adam, 48, said it had become obvious that soldiers were being sent to war for “nothing.”
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since it launched its retaliatory war after Hamas fighters attacked Israel from Gaza in October 2023. Around 1,200 people were killed in that attack on southern Israel.
The terrorist group, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades but today controls only parts of the enclave, on Saturday once again said that it would release all hostages if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw its forces from Gaza.
Netanyahu is pushing for an all-or-nothing deal that would see all of the hostages released at once and Hamas surrendering.
The prime minister has said Gaza City is a Hamas stronghold and capturing it is necessary to defeat the Palestinian militant group, whose October 2023 attack on Israel led to the war.
Hamas has acknowledged it would no longer govern Gaza once the war ends but has refused to discuss laying down its weapons.