Jewish influencer vows legal fight after Australia bars entry

British-Israeli influencer Sammy Yahood has vowed to challenge the Australian government’s decision to cancel his visa, saying he will fight what he described as an unlawful and politically motivated ban.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke cancelled Yahood’s visitor visa just three hours before the self-defence coach was due to board a flight from Israel to Melbourne. Yahood was later prevented from boarding a connecting flight while transiting through Abu Dhabi.

The minister said the decision was based on Yahood’s social media history, stating that “spreading hatred is not a good reason to come” to Australia and that the government would not provide a platform for material that vilifies religious groups. Departmental officials reportedly reviewed a dossier of posts in which Yahood described Islam as a murderous ideology.

Speaking from the United Arab Emirates, Yahood told his 170,000 Instagram followers he would pursue legal action to overturn the decision, arguing that the cancellation amounted to state overreach and an attack on free speech. He claimed Australian authorities had scrutinised his personal social media activity to justify what he described as ideological enforcement.

In a video message posted while in transit, Yahood said, “This is tyranny, censorship, and control. This is the government of Australia telling me what I can and cannot say on my own platforms.”

He said the timing of the cancellation was deliberate and intended to silence him. “They waited until I was literally about to board the plane to pull the rug out from under me,” Yahood said. “It is a cowardly move designed to prevent me from speaking to a community that is currently living in fear.”

Yahood had been scheduled to appear at events across Australia as part of a national tour. In Melbourne, he was to headline a Young Jewish Professionals event titled “Peace Through Strength” and attend a major Shabbat dinner at a synagogue in Caulfield. The Sydney program included self-defence workshops and addresses at major synagogues, as well as a private meeting with survivors of the 14 December Bondi Beach massacre. Further appearances had been planned in Brisbane.

Legal experts say the cancellation is among the first applications of new hate speech amendments passed in late 2025, which allow the government to bar non-citizens who have engaged in religious vilification overseas if their presence is assessed as a risk to social cohesion. Government sources said the post-Bondi terror environment had prompted tighter scrutiny of visiting speakers.

Australian Jewish Association chief executive Robert Gregory criticised the decision, calling it a “misuse of Interior Minister Tony Burke’s ministerial powers”. He said the case raised serious questions about freedom of speech and consistency in the application of visa powers.

Yahood said he would continue to press his case publicly and through the courts, insisting he had been denied procedural fairness and warning that the decision set a troubling precedent for visiting speakers.