Australia’s prime minister has rejected accusations from his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, that Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state earlier this year had contributed to Sunday’s deadly antisemitic terrorist attack on Bondi beach in Sydney.
In an interview with national broadcasters, Anthony Albanese was asked if he accepted “any link between that recognition and the massacre in Bondi”.
“No, I don’t,” Albanese said, adding: “Overwhelmingly, most of the world recognises a two-state solution as being the way forward in the Middle East.”
Fifteen Jewish people died and dozens more were injured after two local men opened fire on a crowd gathered to celebrate the religious festival of Hanukah. Both men were shot by police, one fatally.
Albanese did not directly respond to Netanyahu’s accusation that he had “replaced weakness with weakness and appeasement with more appeasement” when fighting antisemitism.
“This is a moment of national unity where we need to come together … We need to wrap our arms around members of the Jewish community who are going through an extraordinarily difficult period,” Albanese said. “My job is … to make it clear that Australians overwhelmingly stand with the Jewish community at this difficult time.”
Tensions between Australia and Israel have been high since August, when Israel revoked the visas of Australian diplomats in occupied Palestine, which Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, said at the time was an “unjustified reaction, following Australia’s decision to recognise Palestine”.
Australia’s government said the decision was part of a coordinated international effort to build new momentum for a two-state solution, a ceasefire to halt the bloody Israeli offensive in Gaza and the release of hostages taken by Hamas in its lethal surprise raid into Israel on 7 October 2023.
At the time, Netanyahu called the move an “absurdity” and a “reward for terrorism”.
On Sunday, the Israeli prime minister, who heads the most rightwing government in Israel’s history and faces an election within a year, said Albanese’s government “did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia”.
“We are worrying right now about our people, our safety, and we do not remain silent … We fight those who try to annihilate us,” Netanyahu said.
Albanese, who leads the centre-left Labor party, on Monday said his government was prepared to take whatever action was necessary. At a press briefing, Albanese listed actions his government had taken, including criminalising hate speech and incitement to violence and a ban on the Nazi salute.
Funding for physical security for Jewish community groups would be extended, he said, and he pointed to the need for tougher gun laws in Australia, which already has among the world’s most restrictive firearms curbs.
A special envoy appointed by the government last year to tackle a spate of graffiti and arson attacks on synagogues and Jewish businesses said Sunday’s terrorist attack “did not come without warning”.
“The writing has been on the wall,” the envoy, Jillian Segal, said in a radio interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday.
Jewish community leaders echoed the call for more action. “There has been a shocking level of antisemitism that has been rearing its head in this country as it has in other countries. When antisemitism goes unchecked from the top, these are the things that happen,” said Levi Wolff, the lead rabbi at Sydney’s Central Synagogue.
The leader of Australia’s conservative Liberal opposition party said Labor had allowed antisemitism to “fester”.
“Everything must change from today in how governments respond,” Sussan Ley told a press conference, adding that Albanese must implement all of the recommendations in a report issued by Segal in July, including a focus on university campuses.
Standing with Segal when the report was released in July, Albanese had condemned antisemitism as an “evil scourge”, and said his government would spend A$25m to boost security at Jewish community sites, including schools, among other measures.
It was also important to separate antisemitism from legitimate criticism of the Netanyahu government’s actions, Albanese said at the time, noting that he and other international leaders had criticised Israel. “You should be able to express your view here in Australia about events overseas. Where the line has been crossed is in blaming and identifying people because they happen to be Jewish,” he said in July.
Along with calling for strengthened hate crime laws, Segal urged tougher screening of visa applicants for antisemitic views, and a focus on universities, cultural bodies and broadcasters.
According to 2021 census data, there are about 116,967 Australians with Jewish identity, 0.46% of the national population of 25 million, mostly living in inner Sydney and Melbourne.
The Labor government has been mindful of Australia’s multicultural society, including the numerous and electorally powerful migrant community from Lebanon.
Since 2023, police have allowed weekly protest marches through against Israel’s war in Gaza.
Australia expelled Iran’s ambassador earlier this year, after intelligence agencies attributed at least two antisemitic arson attacks to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Reuters contributed reporting
