‘When Hamas welcomes the Australian government’s approach and Israel rejects its approach, it is pretty clear that something is wrong with how the government has responded to the unspeakable atrocities of October 7.’
Those comments, in a speech today by former Coalition cabinet minister Greg Hunt, neatly summarise why the Albanese government must share some of the blame for the recent rise of anti-Semitism in Australia.
An official terrorist organisation like Hamas welcomes the actions of Labor at the same time as the Israeli government rejects them. What could possibly go wrong after that?!
Hunt is calling for a national parliamentary apology to Jewish Australians by the Prime Minister. Whether such a step is necessary, or indeed adds much value to the debate, either way the government has badly let the Australian Jewish community down.
And with that they have let us all down.
There are a multitude of factors at play that explain why Labor has been weak on this issue, with the consequence being a rise in anti-Semitism.
For starters, large chunks of the party’s left have enormous sympathy for the plight of Palestine.
That sympathy, for some, extends to Hamas and a demonisation of the state of Israel.
Three ministers who have contributed to the unease in the Jewish community – the PM, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and most recently, Jim Chalmers, after his shocking suggestion Jewish concerns for their own welfare were ‘not always unfounded’
On the international stage Australia has broken from its traditional stance on what needs to happen for a two state solution for Israel and Palestine to eventuate.
We have been weak in our rhetoric about where the blame lies for the October 7 attacks, and we’ve added strong layers of criticism to Israel.
It’s no coincidence that both the PM and our foreign minister, Penny Wong, are from Labor’s factional Left.
The government’s motivation to appease anti-Israel sentiments early on during the current crisis also had strategic political considerations.
Labor didn’t want to be outflanked by the Greens, worried about inner-city electorates the Greens either hold or are targeting.
The PM and others have also had concerns about losing anti-Israeli votes within cohorts of western Sydney seats come the next election.
We’ve had some concerning uses of rhetoric by senior government ministers when discussing the threats to the Jewish community here at home, including suggestions that Jewish concerns for their own welfare are sometimes overstated.
For example, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said: ‘The fears that a lot of Australians in the Jewish community have are not always unfounded’.
Not ALWAYS unfounded? What an appalling thing to say, much less think.
Just one of many of a spate of anti-Semitic attacks around Sydney’s eastern suburbs over the past month is pictured above
The undertones speak to the backstory of government reticence to respond to initial acts of violence, protest and graffiti targeting the Australian Jewish community.
As one very senior member of the Australian Jewish community told me – not wanting to be named for very obvious reasons – ‘it provided a rare moment of insight into their reluctance to unequivocally denounce anti-Semitism for so long and their failure to use all of the resources of ASIO, the AFP etc for so long.’
It is hard to disagree.
The Federal Government’s moral equivalence and weakness post October 7 has contributed to the current crisis of anti-Semitism here in Australia.
And it seems like it has gotten so out of control it’s hard to rein it in now.
It is only very recently since they took the threat seriously. In the wake of an escalation of the threats and a proliferation of the abuse.
The truth is that anti-Semitism is at a record high in Australia and the incidents continue to escalate and are becoming increasingly violent and dangerous.
The authorities appear powerless to catch the perpetrators and establish deterrence for these criminal acts.
The scene at Maroubra’s preschool and early learning centre which was targeted by an arson attack last month
Did Labor really think you could have weekly protests calling for the annihilation of the world’s only Jewish state and local extremists wouldn’t take out their frustrations on the local Jewish community?
Such naivety beggars belief. It’s hard not to conclude that Albo simply isn’t up to managing a national security crisis of this magnitude. One that has most recently resulted in authorities intercepting a caravan loaded with explosives, seemingly destined for a Jewish centre of worship or community.
As Australians bear witness to what’s unfolding, in the countdown to the looming federal election, it’s worth reflecting on the weak political leadership that precipitated these events.
In the early stages, when Peter Dutton was warning Albo and others of the need to ramp up his response, all that senior Labor ministers and the PM himself were doing was seeking to politically fire back at the opposition leader.
They claimed his concerns were nothing more than trumped up rhetoric designed to gain headlines.
It turns out that Dutton was right and Labor failed to heed the warnings to help bring tensions down before they got out of control.
