Antisemitic attacks roil Australia amid claims of foreign influence

A wave of antisemitic attacks has roiled Australia, with a dozen arrests for vandalising or setting homes, schools, and synagogues on fire since October and hundreds more charged in just over a year with crimes targeting Jews.

The attacks in areas where Jewish people live have provoked an outpouring of condemnation – and a fraught and complicated debate about who’s to blame. But in a rare moment of unity, Australia’s federal lawmakers on Thursday advanced hate crime laws almost unanimously.

“We want people who are engaged in antisemitic activities to be caught, to be charged and to be put in the clink,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters.

“This is a time of national crisis,” opposition leader Peter Dutton said.

What’s happening in Australia?

Jewish and Muslim organisations and hate researchers have recorded drastic spikes in hate-fuelled incidents on both groups since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza. And although how groups define antisemitism and Islamophobia differs, the numbers the organisations cite all show a rise in incidents.