Senior Australian rabbis urge national action as antisemitism escalates

Australia’s senior Orthodox rabbis have issued a stark warning to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, saying antisemitism in Australia has moved beyond rhetoric and into a climate of real and present danger, exposed most brutally by the Bondi Beach attack.

In a letter to the Prime Minister on December 25, 2025, the Executive of the Rabbinical Association of Australasia writes that Jewish communities are living with fear, grief and withdrawal, and that existing responses have failed to stop the slide from incitement to violence.

“We write as rabbis serving Jewish communities throughout Australia,” the letter states. “We represent different streams of Jewish life and hold differing personal views on politics and public policy. What unites us at this time is our shared responsibility for the spiritual, emotional, and physical wellbeing of our communities.”

The rabbis say that over the past two years, and with “devastating clarity in recent weeks”, antisemitism has escalated under the guise of anti-Zionism, particularly through mass demonstrations held in major city centres.

They argue these protests are not merely political expression but are driven by explicit objectives.

“The hate-fuelled marches and demonstrations that have taken place in the heart of our major cities have, at their core, objectives that include the establishment of a single Palestinian state in the Holy Land coupled with the elimination of Israel,” the letter states.

More alarmingly, they write, the rhetoric heard at these rallies points to something broader and more dangerous.

“The ‘globalisation of the intifada’ is a euphemism for violence against, and ultimately the extermination of, world Jewry.”

The rabbis say such demonstrations have been allowed to proceed while Jews have been directed by police to stay away for their own protection, forcing many to withdraw from public spaces, universities, and civic life out of fear.

“These marches and demonstrations have been permitted to proceed largely unhindered,” they write, “while Jews have been directed by police to stay away ‘for your own protection’.”

They call for the banning of such rallies and the criminalisation of specific slogans.

“We are demanding nothing less than the banning of such marches and demonstrations,” the letter states, “and the criminalisation of the phrases ‘death to the IDF’, ‘globalise the intifada’, and ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’.”

The rabbis reject any suggestion that the violence was disconnected from the broader climate.

“The massacre at Bondi Beach did not emerge in a vacuum,” they write. “It was the most tragic and violent manifestation of a climate in which visceral hatred towards Jews has been allowed to grow louder, more normalised, and more tolerated.”

The December 14 attack during a Chanukah gathering killed 15 people. Authorities have confirmed the attack was antisemitic in nature and are investigating it as terrorism.

They describe the toll this climate has taken on daily life.

“This is not an abstract concern. It is a lived reality,” the letter states. “We have sat with grieving families. We have visited the injured. We have stood with children who no longer feel safe walking to school.”

On December 24, the NSW Parliament passed emergency legislation expanding police powers to restrict public assemblies after a declared terrorist incident and tightening gun laws. While welcoming measures aimed at immediate safety, the rabbis argue that state-based responses cannot address what they describe as a national failure. There have been indications that Victoria may introduce similar legislation.

“Antisemitism today does not recognise state borders,” they write. “It spreads through national and global networks, online platforms, funding streams and radicalisation pathways, many of which fall substantially within Commonwealth responsibility.”

For that reason, the rabbis call for a Federal Royal Commission into antisemitism, with the power to examine how hatred has been allowed to take root across institutions, universities and digital spaces.

“From the perspective of our communities, they do not provide the independence, transparency, or public confidence that this moment requires,” the letter states, referring to existing government reviews. “Trust has been badly shaken. Restoring it requires openness.”

The rabbis stress that their intervention is not political.

“This call is not an endorsement of any political party or political agenda,” they write. “It is a moral and ethical imperative.”

The letter closes with a warning drawn from Jewish law, citing the biblical command not to stand by while blood is shed.

“Our tradition and our history teach that when lives are lost and danger persists, silence is not neutrality,” they write. “To be silent at this time is to abdicate responsibility.”

The letter is signed by Rabbi Nochum Schapiro, President of the Rabbinical Association of Australasia, and the association’s executive, and urges the federal government to act decisively to prevent further loss of life and restore confidence that Jewish Australians can live openly and safely.