Last friday‚ a fire damaged the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne injuring one person and police are still looking for two suspects who might have started it
Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X that this crime was linked to the Australian Labor governments anti-Israel position (especially their support for a UN-backed Palestinian state resolution): while Anthony Albanese quickly spoke against the attack saying that antisemitism has no place in his country
Minister Murray Watt defended the governments record on fighting hate crimes; pointing out several key actions they took since coming to power 2 and half years ago:
- $25-million for Jewish sites security upgrades
- Ban on Nazi salutes
- New laws against hate speech
- Rules about terror group symbols in public
The Israel-Gaza conflict that started bout 14 months ago led to more religious-based incidents in Australia‚ but most pro-Palestine demonstrations stayed peaceful - even though some Jewish groups think the government isnt doing enough to stop antisemitism
I respectfully disagree with Prime Minister Netanyahu on this matter
The government keeps working on keeping social harmony while dealing with community issues that came up after mid-2023 (when they passed new laws against showing terror symbols in public)