Alex Rivchin: Leadership lessons from Australia's antisemitism crisis

Skyrocketing levels of anti-Semitic violence and vandalism in Australia show how a country's foreign policy influences its domestic politics, and how quickly problems can escalate into a crisis if the government's response is inadequate or ineffective. revealed that.

Since Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Australia's Jewish community has faced an escalating domestic situation with the government moving away from its traditional support for US policy toward Israel. . The Australian Jewish Executive Council, the national representative body for Australia's Jewish community, recorded a 738 per cent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the two months since October 7, one of the highest in the world. This was one of the sharpest increases.

Australia's Jewish community alarmed by rising anti-Semitism: 'Fear and anxiety'

Leaks of private WhatsApp groups allegedly by a New York Times reporter keep hundreds of Jewish artists, writers and other creators in the dark, leading to murders against hundreds of Jewish Australians and their families led to intimidation, unemployment, and harassment. Jewish-owned businesses have been vandalized with anti-Semitic slogans and Hamas symbols, and some have gone bankrupt under the weight of an organized boycott campaign. A Jewish MP's office was firebombed and covered in pro-Palestinian graffiti, and a car was torched in two separate attacks in Sydney's eastern suburbs, the heart of the city's Jewish community. Homes with anti-Israel messages were vandalized. . For this community, which began with the arrival of the first convict ships from England in 1788, the lowest lows in its long and distinguished history were the aftermath of the October 7 atrocities and December 6 of this year. It was day.

Australian Jewish Executive Council Co-CEO Alex Rivchin speaks at a media conference in Sydney on 9 October 2023. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)

On October 9, 2023, with the full-scale news of the Hamas terror still unfolding, a masked crowd gathered on the steps of Australia's most famous landmark, the Sydney Opera House, chanting: “Jews are Where are you?” he cried. They fired smoke bombs and said, “Jews!'' “Jews, Muhammad's army is coming!'' and set the Israeli flag on fire. The city's Jewish residents were warned by police to stay away from the city center as the mob raged. After more than a year of escalating violence and weekly street protests, Melbourne's Adas Israel Synagogue was set on fire and virtually destroyed on December 6.

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It was perhaps the most serious anti-Semitic attack to occur around the world since October 7th. The synagogue was built by Holocaust survivors who sought refuge in Australia after the war and believed they had perpetuated the spectacle of book burning. Prayer and the burnt ruins of the chapel.

Members of the local Jewish community look at the damage caused by the arson attack at the Adas Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Australia, on December 6, 2024. An arson attack on Melbourne's Adas Israel Synagogue in the early hours of Friday left the building engulfed in flames, forcing congregants to evacuate. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the incident as an act of anti-Semitism and stressed that such violence at places of worship would not be tolerated in Australia. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Through it all, Australia's Jewish community has gone through what feels like stages of grief. We deny that our country is changing in such profound and alarming ways. Despair about what will happen. And finally, anger. Anger that a proud and highly successful multicultural, democratic society was allowed to turn into this. Anthony Albanese amid persistent criticism from both the media and Jewish community leaders that the government has not clearly and forcefully condemned anti-Semitism and taken sufficient action since the Adas Israel synagogue fire. The role of the Prime Minister's center-left government is now in the spotlight. Legislative reforms and policies to deal with the new crisis contributed to a frenzied state in which incendiary bombings and public displays of terrorist insignia were now fully normalized.

Meanwhile, the government denies that it is pursuing an increasingly pro-Palestinian policy, one that is driven by contempt for Israel and by Muslims and hard-line leftists over the votes of the numerically insignificant Jewish community. appears to stem from both crude domestic political calculations in which the vote of the US is far more important. , contributing to the anti-Semitism crisis.

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This in itself shows a lack of belief and leadership. True leadership recognizes their power to effect change and set or correct the direction of those they lead. The government's claim that its words and actions are unrelated to the surge in anti-Semitism is therefore an admission of failure. Great Australian leaders like Theodore Roosevelt and Churchill, or Bob Hawke and John Howard, chose to do so when their country's security became a danger to the Jewish people they watched. It's hard to imagine them holding themselves to such a low standard. Australia often looks to America. The United States should now look to Australia and learn the lessons that the Australian government is unable or unwilling to absorb.