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Although Australia and Israel have been “best friends, like brother and sister” since the 1917 Battle of Beersheba, their friendship has “been really strained” since October 7, 2023, according to Jewish Member of Parliament David Southwick.
Speaking on the ILTV News podcast, Southwick said, “Our government, both at the federal and state levels, has not called out hate, hasn’t stood up when it counted, and they've succumbed to far-left extremists and Muslim extremists together.”
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Podcast Australia May 2025
(צילום: ILTV)
Southwick's remarks came just ahead of Australia’s federal election, which concluded last week with a victory for incumbent Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Labor Party. While the Labor Party is not considered anti-Israel or antisemitic, it has been accused of ignoring the issue to such an extent that many of the country’s 120,000 Jews now feel unsafe.
“You've got a whole bunch of haters that are ganging up against the Jews, and the government is just completely missing in action,” Southwick said. “I know many in the Jewish community have felt unsafe, unsupported, and that they have a government that really hasn't cared. That's been really, really disappointing.”
He noted that antisemitism has manifested in many areas of daily life—from children wearing kippahs having them knocked off during footy games, to Jewish businesses being boycotted and Jewish artists being doxed. The most visible act of hate, he said, was a terrorist attack on a local synagogue.
“It’s happening everywhere,” he said, emphasizing that education is key to stopping the spread of antisemitism.
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Until recently, Southwick added, support for Israel had been a bipartisan issue in Australian politics. A member of the Liberal Party, Southwick co-chairs the Parliamentary Friends of Israel with a member of the Labor Party.
“We work very closely together,” Southwick said. “But I got to say, there is a lot more work to be done right now.”
Despite the challenges, Southwick stressed that the majority of Australians continue to support Israel and stand with the Jewish community.
“This is a small, vocal minority that has not had any consequences for its bad behavior,” he said. “The government has just let it roll, and by that it just has emboldened them, made them stronger.”