LOS ANGELES (December 14, 2025) — Since October 7, 2023, Australia’s Jewish community has watched with mounting alarm as antisemitic threats, harassment, and violence have escalated, often met with official statements, but no meaningful action.
At the same time, rhetoric emanating from the prime minister’s office that stigmatized and demonized Israel helped normalize antisemitism at home and lower the threshold for violence against Jews. This toxic combination of murderous antisemitism, political hesitation, and inflammatory language has now reached a horrific crescendo in Sydney, where twelve innocent people have been murdered while celebrating Hanukkah.
This was not random violence. This was targeted anti-Jewish terror.
Yet even in the aftermath of this explicitly anti-Jewish terror, the government's pattern of erasure continued. Prime Minister Albanese’s initial statement did not mention Hanukkah. It did not mention antisemitism. It did not even say the word ‘Jewish.’ Only when directly questioned did the prime Minister acknowledge the anti-Jewish nature of the attack. This omission is not incidental; it reflects a broader failure of the Australian government to confront increasingly dangerous antisemitism emanating from corners of Australian society.
Let us be clear: Australia’s intelligence and law-enforcement professionals are capable. The failure here is political.
It is long overdue that Australia's institutional leadership publicly acknowledge and confront the virulent antisemitism that exists in some quarters of Australian society that has been normalized, ignored, and in some cases even encouraged. This collective failure to recognize and respond to antisemitism has now resulted in the cruel mass murder of innocent members of Australia's Jewish community.