The Australian Jewish community has faced some of the most severe violent antisemitic attacks since the October 7 war, including arson targeting synagogues, damage to property owned by Jewish parliament members, and threatening graffiti on several buildings.
“We’re not talking about just people marching in the streets or waving flags,” stressed Daniel Weil, chairman of the Liberal Friends of Israel in Victoria and an active member of the Australian Jewish community.
Speaking on ILTV News' most recent podcast, Weil said, “It has been a very trying time for the Jewish community and for the broader community as well, because what's been going on has not just been affecting the Jewish community, but it's been affecting everybody through these protests that we've been seeing, which has been the case all over the world.”
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Weil noted that the community was “in shock” that such acts of antisemitism could occur in Australia, a country that for many years had been “by and large a very tolerant, very friendly country.”
Before the recent war, Australia had relatively few antisemitic incidents, Weil explained, adding that the government was unprepared for the sudden spike. As a result, its response has been mostly “reactionary,” with few preexisting policies in place that could have mitigated the situation.
“We're seeing now governments really responding by trying to set up things like antisemitism task forces, and looking at changing laws to protect places of worship. But a lot of it's very reactionary,” Weil said.
Another challenge has been the rise of doxing. Weil described a significant incident about six months ago, where roughly 700 members of the Jewish community in a WhatsApp group discussing antisemitism in Australia had their messages leaked. Many had their personal details shared publicly, leading to death threats and damage to their businesses.
In response to that incident, the Federal government implemented changes to make doxing a criminal offense, Weil explained.
Weil is currently in Israel as part of a delegation hosted by DiploAct. He is traveling with several current and former Australian parliament members, as well as political candidates. Despite the rise in antisemitism, he affirmed that Australia remains a key ally of the State of Israel.
“Both our countries are built on Judeo-Christian values,” Weil said. “It is really a minority of people that have been causing a lot of the issues.”
He added, “The Israeli people, and Israel as a country, can continue to rely on Australia going forward as a very, very strong ally.”