From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 23, 2026
Australian police suspect antisemitism after Jewish teen assaulted at camp
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Police in Australia are investigating a suspected antisemitic assault after an 18-year-old Jewish man was punched at a Scouts camp near Melbourne over the weekend.
Around 2 p.m. on Saturday, Joshua Levy was walking in the park in Lardner, southeast of Melbourne, when an unknown male, believed to be 16 or 17, approached him and verbally abused him for wearing a yarmulke and carrying an Israeli flag, according to Victoria Police and the Anti-Defamation Commission.
Later that night, the same individual allegedly approached Levy again at a crowded camp event attended by approximately 300 people and struck him three times in the face, reports say. He was checked by a doctor on site and restricted from leaving afterwards due to fear of further assault from the perpetrator’s friends.
The incident left Levy “scared and sad that I’m not free to express my culture and religion freely,” the Anti-Defamation Commission quoted him as saying. “I always heard about antisemitic attacks, but never thought it would happen to me.”
Levy and his father reported the incident at Caulfield Police Station on Sunday. The investigation is ongoing, and no arrests have been made, Police say.
Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, condemned the assault, calling on police to pursue the case with the full weight of the law.
“This is not 1930s Germany. This is Australia in 2026,” Abramovich said in a statement. “Bondi was supposed to be a wake-up call. We have reached a point where too many people in this county believe that anyone who is associated with Israel, who wears a yarmulke, who stands openly as a Jew, is fair game for violence or worse.”
An 18-year-old has been bashed in an antisemitic attack while at a camp east of Melbourne. Police have laid charges, but the victim says he is willing to sit down with his attacker to explain why crimes like this need to stop. @KristyMayr7 pic.twitter.com/tdObRaMPui
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) February 23, 2026
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