Israel’s ambassador to Australia says he has never witnessed hatred of Jews at the level he has seen in this country across a 26-year diplomatic career.
He warns that modern “blood libel” myths directed at Israel are being normalised.
In his most pointed comments since arriving in Canberra earlier this year, and as the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion continues public hearings, Hillel Newman has described Australia’s antisemitism problem as significantly worse than in the two Muslim-majority countries where he previously served as ambassador.
Newman does not name Anthony Albanese or his government, but his intervention lands as Labor’s draft national platform reportedly ramps up pressure on Israel and softens the party’s earlier commitments to hold Palestinian leadership accountable.
Writing in The Australian, Newman said “obsessive herds” accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, and of using dogs to rape Palestinian detainees echo mediaeval antisemitic tropes about Jews poisoning wells with plague and using children’s blood in rituals.
He also warned that antisemitism disguised as antizionism could help spark further violence of the kind seen at Bondi Beach in December, Australia’s deadliest terrorist attack.
“We should not be surprised if the toleration of the new inflammatory antizionist antisemitism leads to further violence and terrorism,” he wrote.
“Make no mistake, the obsessive, multi-ranged, wild, unfounded accusations thrown time and time again at Israel, are not legitimate criticism. They are not caring for anyone. They are driven by hate. They are a manifestation of antisemitism.
“Throughout my 26-year career as an Israeli diplomat, I have never seen such levels of hatred of Israel, and of Jews, as I experience and witness here in Australia.”
The language is markedly stronger than anything said publicly by his predecessor, Amir Maimon, who led the embassy from before the October 7, 2023 massacres through to the immediate aftermath of the Bondi attack.
Newman also accused some progressives of a double standard, campaigning for Indigenous Australians’ connection to land and history while denying the Jewish people’s historic ties to Israel and Jerusalem.
“People promote and support the connection Indigenous Australians have to land, history and ancestry,” he wrote. “Yet deny and refuse to recognise the historic connection between the Jews and the land of Israel, as documented in the Bible, archaeological artefacts and literature. This is a sign.”
His comments come a fortnight before the ALP’s 50th national conference at the Adelaide Convention Centre from July 23 to 25.
It has been reported this week that Labor’s draft platform strengthens opposition to what it calls Israel’s “occupation” of Gaza. The draft also drops earlier explicit references to Hamas disarming and Palestinian Authority reform.
It also solidifies ALP support for the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice, including “compliance of their binding decisions”. The ICJ is hearing South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, while the ICC has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Those earlier commitments, on Hamas’s removal from Gaza’s government and Palestinian Authority accountability, were previously cited by Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong as conditions for Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state on September 21, 2025.
Albanese has not described Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” and hosted Israeli President Isaac Herzog on an official visit despite protests within his own party. He has also established the Royal Commission, appointed Jillian Segal as Antisemitism Envoy, and overseen new hate speech, hate crime and hate symbol laws.
Even so, antizionist protests have continued since Bondi. The NSW Court of Appeal has also struck down post-Bondi protest restrictions as unconstitutional, while Labor activists are expected to push for stronger anti-Israel positions at the Adelaide conference.
Newman contrasted Australia with his earlier postings in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
“I served as ambassador in two Muslim countries. Yet, I did not see these levels of hatred,” he wrote. “The non-radicalised and un-politicised Muslims understood the issues and showed more understanding than the obsessive herds calling for Israel’s annihilation and protesting Israel’s existence on the streets of Australia. In a reverse of moral and immoral, this modern antisemitism disguises itself as virtue.”
He pointed to the Sydney Opera House protests staged two days after the October 7 massacre as evidence that some anti-Israel activism in Australia is driven by hostility to Jews rather than concern for Palestinians.
“The fact that these protests predate Israel’s self-defensive operation in Gaza disprove their dishonest attempts to attribute care for the Gazans as the reason for their protests,” he wrote. “They were supporting the killing of Jews. Period.”
He said the chant “from the river to the sea” was not a call for peace but a call for Israel’s annihilation.
“When people march and chant ‘from the river to the sea’, they are calling for the annihilation of the state of Israel. That is a sign.”
The federal government has not publicly responded to Newman’s latest comments.