Australia forms antisemitism task force after Melbourne synagogue attack
Albanese said that the move comes in response to high-profile violent antisemitic incidents in Australia.
Amid calls from Jewish groups for action against rising antisemitism, the Australian government announced the formation of a counter-antisemitism task force on Monday in response to a Friday arson terror attack against a Melbourne synagogue.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said on Monday that Special Operation Avalite for Antisemitism would work with state and territory police to address issues like calls to violence or the advocating for terrorism or genocide.Albanese said the move came in response to high-profile violent antisemitic incidents in Australia, including the June vandalization and arson of Jewish parliamentarian Josh Burns’s office, November Sydney vehicle arsons and defacement, and the recent Ripponlea Adass Israel Synagogue arson that wounded two and did significant damage to the historic Jewish site.The Australian government also announced on Monday that the Melbourne arson would be investigated as a terrorist attack by the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team. Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Director-General Mike Burgess said there was currently no intelligence to suggest other attacks of the same caliber, but the national terrorism threat level remained at probable – there is a 50% chance of a terrorism threat within the next 12 months.Albanese also announced an additional A$32.5 million on Sunday for the program providing security to synagogues, schools, and Jewish community events.
“Everyone has the right to be proud of who they are and to feel welcome, safe, and supported in Australia,” Albanese said in a Sunday press conference. “Antisemitism has no place in our country. We unequivocally condemn it.The funding increase was criticized by the Australian Jewish Association as buying off the Jewish community without addressing the causes of antisemitism. AJA called for the government to address campus antisemitism and to prevent the immigration of those who support terrorist organizations.The Executive Council of Australian Jewry welcomed the Albanese government’s funding commitment on Facebook as a “significant development” that met one of the organization’s six “critical demands” for Australian Jewry.In a letter to Albanese on Sunday, the ECAJ asked the prime minister to consider the conditions in the country that led to the Friday arson, urging in one of its demands for a National Cabinet meeting to address the national antisemitism crisis.The ECAJ also called for Albanese to support mandatory national antisemitism education and enact legislation requiring academic institutions to protect students and staff.Another demand was for the government to pass laws or direct law enforcement to more strictly enforce laws prohibiting protesters from harassing people attending schools, houses of worship, and community sites.The ECAJ also called for the government to review its rhetoric and public statements on antisemitism and the Arab-Israeli conflict, “recognizing the far greater impact that such statements have on local communities than on conflict resolution in the Middle East.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Friday social media post that it was “impossible to separate” the Melbourne arson attack from the “extreme anti-Israeli position” of the Labor-led Australian government.Netanyahu gave the example of Australian support for a United Nations General Assembly resolution last Wednesday that urged an end to Israel’s “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” an end to all settlement activities, and to “evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”Albanese responded to Netanyahu on Monday by arguing that his government voted on a resolution that was supported by 157 other states and that such resolutions had been backed by previous governments.The Aussie prime minister also countered criticism from members of the Jewish community and voices, like opposition leader Peter Dutton, who argued that the Labor government had been slow to react to an antisemitism and extremism crisis in the country.“When it comes to antisemitism measures that we have introduced, [a] landmark ban on the Nazi salute and hate symbols came into effect in January of this year,” he said. “We’ve appointed Jillian Segal as Australia’s first special envoy to combat antisemitism.“We criminalized doxxing in legislation that was passed through the Parliament on the last sitting day – that was opposed by the Liberal and National parties.“We have legislated to appoint Australia’s first-ever National Student Ombudsman. In the weeks following the October 7 attack, we committed A$25 million for the first round of the safety and security at Jewish sites,” Albanese said Monday. “We have consistently taken action. We’ll continue to do so.”
Albanese faces criticism
While Albanese noted that he had issued a condemnation of the attack on Sunday morning, he also faced criticism that he had played tennis on Saturday in the wake of the major incident. Albanese argued that he had engaged in exercise after several appointments that included visiting a synagogue, where he said he was “very much welcomed” at a bar mitzvah.Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who is Jewish, also responded at the Monday briefing to criticisms of a slow response to an antisemitism crisis, saying that while it was an increasingly “common reaction” from members of the Australian Jewish community, the government was doing everything to protect all Australians.Dreyfus acknowledged, “We’ve experienced in Australia in the last year the highest level of antisemitism that I’ve experienced in my lifetime.”An ECAJ report published last Sunday detailed that anti-Jewish incidents in Australia have risen by 316% since October 7.
Reueters and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
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