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Zionist Federation of Australia Calls on New York Times to Fire Journalist Behind Doxxing of Australian Jews
The New York Times newspaper. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
The president of the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) said The New York Times should fire one of its Melbourne-based reporters who downloaded private information from a WhatsApp group chat for Jewish professionals in Australia that was later used by pro-Palestinian activists to harass members of the group.
Jeremy Leibler, who is also a partner in the law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler, told The Guardian on Tuesday that Times reporter Natasha Frost should be sacked and described her actions as “a very egregious breach of trust that resulted in very, very serious harm and damage to many, many people.”
Founded in 1927, ZFA is the federal umbrella organization representing “all Zionist organizations and activity in Australia,” according to its website. It is also the Australian representative of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and the World Zionist Organization.
Frost admitted to The Wall Street Journal recently that she shared with only one person data from a WhatsApp group chat for Jewish professionals and academics, including the contact information of members, their photographs, and social media accounts. Frost downloaded and shared 900 pages worth of content from the group chat and the individual she shared the information with disseminated the data without Frost’s permission, she claimed.
“Its subsequent dissemination and misuse happened entirely without my knowledge or consent,” the Melbourne-based journalist said in a statement shared by a Times spokesperson. “I was shocked by these events, which put me and many others at terrible risk. I deeply regret my decision, and I have no plans to comment further.”
Pro-Palestinian activists who obtained the personal information widely shared it online in February and used the data to harass participants of the group chat, which had roughly 600 members. Some group chat members received menacing phone calls and emails, as well as threats against children, were forced to move due to safety concerns, and had their place of business vandalized.
Leibler told The Guardian that members of the group chat also received death threats and one Jewish family was forced into hiding. He explained that most members who were doxxed did not want to talk publicly about what they experienced because of how it impacted their mental health, jobs, community involvement, and safety, The Guardian reported.
“For the system to work journalists, like lawyers, need to maintain those basic standards of integrity,” he said.
The New York Times said it has taken “appropriate action” against Frost following the incident. “It has been brought to our attention that a New York Times reporter inappropriately shared information with the subject of a story to assist the individual in a private matter, a clear violation of our ethics,” a spokesperson for the newspaper told The Wall Street Journal. “This was done without the knowledge or approval of the Times.”
Frost remains a staff member of The New York Times and continues to write the publication’s weekday newsletter, The Europe Morning Briefing.
The WhatsApp group chat at the center of the controversial was set up in Australia for Jewish creative professionals and academics to help them find support and solidarity following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel.
Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told the Australian Financial Review on Monday that the data leak was “shameful and despicable.” He said Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus’ announcement in May about legislation to criminalize doxxing “couldn’t come quickly enough.”
“The leak directly caused immense emotional distress, led to loss of employment, death threats directed to people’s children, blacklists, and cancellations which persist today,” said Ryvchin. “It also sought to silence Jewish Australians through intimidation and harassment and therefore threatened our freedom to speak and engage in society.”
The post Zionist Federation of Australia Calls on New York Times to Fire Journalist Behind Doxxing of Australian Jews first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.