Australians expect stronger response to antisemitism, survey shows

Nearly half of Australians expect elected officials, mayors and local leaders to take a firmer stance against antisemitism and other manifestations of hate and violence in their communities, according to a survey by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM).

The survey, which polled 1,000 respondents from across Australia between June 27 and July 1, finds that less than a quarter of Australians (24%) describe general public attitudes to Jewish people in Australia as very positive (9%) or slightly positive (15%). On the flip side, 28% of respondents describe attitudes toward Jews as very negative (8%) or slightly negative (20%).

Some 34% of respondents said they were neutral, and 14% were unsure.

One in five young Australians aged 18 to 34 reported witnessing or hearing about antisemitic incidents in their area, with the situation the worst in New South Wales, the most populous of Australia’s six states, CAM says.

Australia’s 120,000-strong Jewish community has been hit hard by antisemitism since the Hamas terror group launched its war against Israel on October 7, 2023.

In recent months, Jews there have experienced synagogues, schools, and homes firebombed, two nurses threatening to kill Jewish patients in their hospital, and the discovery of a trailer filled with explosives said to have been intended to cause a mass-casualty event at a Sydney synagogue.

In early July, a pair of attacks in Melbourne targeted a synagogue and an Israeli-owned restaurant. “Australia used to be thought of as a safe haven for Jews, but that image has unfortunately been shattered over the last two years,” says CAM CEO Sacha Roytman Dratwa.