Antisemitism in Australia: In recent months, Australian Jews have been the target of multiple antisemitic attacks, including vandalism, threats, harassment, and a spate of arson attempts.
Antisemitism in the country has soared in the last year and a half following the October 7 massacre.
In November, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry reported that there was a 316% increase in antisemitic occurrences in Australia between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024.
Dr. Colin Rubenstein, the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) executive director, said that the electoral win constitutes an opportunity for the Labor government to “push back more strongly against unprecedented levels of antisemitism, hate speech, and incitement to violence.”
Rubenstein also called for a return to the longstanding bipartisan position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including “an acceptance that premature recognition of a non-existent Palestinian state will be detrimental to peacemaking.”
Alex Ryvchin, cochief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said there has been “a lot of anger in the community about the federal government’s handling of what has become an antisemitism crisis.
