Ministry accuses Australian government of encouraging attacks on Jews

The Diaspora Affairs Ministry says the Australian government bears responsibility for the deadly shooting attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, claiming that Canberra “is doing everything in its power to ensure that Australian Jews cannot live safely, peacefully, and securely as Jews in their own country.”

Condemning the “brutal act of terror targeting Jews who had gathered to mark the lighting of a Hanukkah candle,” the ministry in a statement claims that “the blood of the victims is on the hands of the Australian government.”

“Since October 7, instead of standing firmly and unequivocally alongside the State of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East and the frontline of the free world against jihadist terrorism, the Australian government has chosen a policy of weakness, restraint, and appeasement,” states the ministry, which is led by hardline Likud minister Amichai Chikli

The statement accuses Canberra of “appeasing the enemies of Western civilization.”

“All reports, research, and data held by the Diaspora Affairs Ministry show that Australia has become one of the Western countries experiencing the sharpest and most alarming rise in antisemitic incidents since October 7,” the statement continues. “Repeated warnings, appeals, and attempts to engage with the authorities have been met time and again with a wall of indifference, while the government continues a policy of appeasement toward jihadist elements and movements driven by hatred, the destruction of Israel, and the denial of the Jewish people’s very right to exist.”