The Australian government’s envoy for fighting antisemitism unveiled an action plan on Thursday that recommended withholding public funding from problematic institutions, but the country’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, wouldn’t say that he would implement it.
In a 20-page document, Jillian Segal suggested recommendations that require “action by state governments. Some of them require action by society,” Albanese told a reporter who asked him at a press conference about implementation. “This will be a process, my government is committed to working constructively,” he said.
The plan follows a surge in anti-Jewish, anti-Israeli incidents in Australia that some, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have blamed at least partly on the relatively critical approach that Albanese’s Labour-led government has taken vis-à-vis the Jewish state.
Australia experienced a fourfold increase in documented antisemitic incidents in 2024—the steepest rise among English-speaking countries with available data—according to a report published in May. The tally of such cases rose from 495 in 2023 to 2,062 last year, according to the report by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ).
Responding to the torching of a Melbourne synagogue in December, Netanyahu said at the time that “it is impossible to separate this reprehensible act from the extreme anti-Israeli position of the Labor government in Australia.”
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said last year that Canberra would consider recognition of a Palestinian state. Her government has walked back the decision by the previous Liberal Party government to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Last year, she lumped Israel together with China and Russia, saying she expects those countries “to abide by international law.”
Australia has banned entry to Ayelet Shaked, a former Israeli minister of justice and interior, and to Hillel Fuld, a pro-Israel activist whose brother had died in a terrorist attack. The report mentions Israel once, and does not reference the government’s policies towards it.
Israel’s minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, earlier this week sent Albanese a letter expressing his “deep alarm following a profoundly disturbing weekend in Melbourne.” Chikli referenced an arson attack on July 4 on the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation synagogue and vandalism targeting the Israeli restaurant named Miznon.
“This alarming climate is unfolding under your government’s watch—and is further legitimized by recent decisions to deny entry” to Shaked and Fuld, Chikli wrote.
One of the assertions in the new plan for fighting antisemitism is that “the envoy will work with the government to enable government funding to be withheld, where possible, from universities, programs or individuals within universities that facilitate, enable or fail to act against antisemitism.”
‘Face the full force of the law’
The opposition party of Australia—called the Liberal-National Coalition—welcomed the plan in theory, though expressed disappointment at the prime minister’s refusal to say whether or not he will implement it, and if so, which parts.
“We note that when the prime minister was asked directly if he would commit to implementing the plan in full, he refused to do so. Despite being willing to launch the plan today, it is not clear which measures the Albanese government supports and which it does not. Australians deserve some clarity on this,” the opposition said in a statement.
Under the envoy’s guidance, federal and state legislation addressing antisemitic and other hateful conduct should be reformed and made more stringent.
The envoy also advises encouraging media organizations to “avoid accepting false or distorted narratives.” Her plan further features a recommendation that there be protocols for arts festivals and organizations to respond to antisemitic incidents, as well as greater education efforts toward tolerance of Jews and more robust policing.
This “kind of hatred and violence that we have seen on our streets recently is despicable, and it won’t be tolerated,” Albanese also said at the press conference. “I want those responsible to face the full force of the law,” he added.
Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the ECAJ Jewish group, welcomed the plan but added that “the test, of course, is going to be in the implementation” in an interview with ABC News.
Violence and other types of attacks against the Jewish community have made life “incredibly difficult” for some Jews, said Ryvchin.
“We have faced fire bombings, faced exclusion, boycotts and doxing,” he said. “But a lot of the harm has been more what we might call everyday antisemitism—Jewish school kids in school uniform are abused, and flashed ‘Heil Hitler’ salutes and chased down the street.”
Such mayhem “used to be extremely rare in this country,” he added, but “over the past 20, 21 months, it’s become normal.”
