Australian Spy Chief Says Antisemitism Increased After Gaza War

Australia's spy chief told a public inquiry on Monday that antisemitism was left unchecked after the October 2023 outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war and helped fuel violence against Jewish people. The comments were made during hearings examining events leading to last December's attack at Bondi Beach that killed 15 people attending a Jewish Hanukkah celebration.

the Australian Security Intelligence

Organisation said the spike in antisemitic incidents led the agency to raise the national terrorism threat level to "probable" in August 2024. "There is no doubt that the war in the Middle East invoked a range of emotions in Australia," Burgess said.

"Some of those violent aspects ... and those behaviours, including antisemitism that, in our view, were left unchecked, were therefore normalised and gave more permission for violence ... " From late 2024, he added, antisemitism escalated from threatening behavior to direct targeting of people, businesses and places of worship, including vandalism and arson attacks on homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles.

Iran-linked attacks Burgess said the agency concluded that Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was behind two antisemitic attacks on a kosher restaurant in Sydney and Melbourne's Adass Israel Synagogue. That assessment prompted the expulsion of Iran's ambassador in August.

Iran was probably involved in additional attacks, though the agency could not confirm responsibility in every case, he said. "They use their network of proxies and agents to do their bidding, and that is to bring harm to Jewish people wherever they are in the world," Burgess stated.

The inquiry's initial hearings this month have focused on the nature and prevalence of antisemitism, drawing testimony from members of the Jewish community.