Australian authorities ignored warning signs of rising antisemitism, some Jewish leaders say

For the past couple of years, leaders in Australia’s Jewish community have been seeing a rise in antisemitism and urging the country’s leaders to act.

For the past couple of years, leaders in Australia’s Jewish community have been seeing a rise in antisemitism and urging the country’s leaders to act.

But Australia, like other countries grappling with a resurgence of what’s been called the “oldest hatred” since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, has been slow to react to the threat, Jewish leaders said Monday.

The country saw its deadliest mass killing in nearly 30 years, with the massacre of 15 people this past weekend during a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach.

“We’ve seen every manner of exclusion, abuse, attack, harassment, threats, fire bombings, burning of synagogues,” said Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. “This country has changed fundamentally in two years, and it’s culminated now on the beach.”

In the aftermath of the shooting, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his National Cabinet vowed Monday to eradicate the “evil scourge” of antisemitism and take other steps like further tightening the country’s already stringent gun control measures and establishing a centralized National Hate Crimes and Incidents Database.