Anthony Albanese has bowed to pressure to convene a national cabinet to respond to a wave of anti-Semitic attacks.
The Prime Minister has resisted calls to convene such a meeting of state and territory leaders for weeks but has now relented after yet another anti-Semitic incident.
An attempted arson took place at a daycare center in Maroubra, in Sydney's south, on Tuesday morning, and graffiti reading 'f*** the Jews' was also sprayed.
It was the latest in a long list of anti-Semitic incidents to hit Australia.
On Friday, the former home of a prominent Jewish leader, Alex Ryvchin, was doused in red paint, while cars were spray-painted and set on fire in the streets.
Mr Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, had written to Mr Albanese last month to request an urgent meeting of the national cabinet following the terror attack on Melbourne's Adass Synagogue.
That request initially fell on deaf ears, as did a similar request from Albanese's own hand-picked anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal, who accused the prime minister of failing to show “leadership” on the issue.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton joined the calls, saying on Monday the coalition would declare one if voted into government in the coming elections.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured) has resisted calls for weeks to convene a crisis meeting of state and territory leaders, but has now relented after yet another anti-Semitic incident.
An anti-Semitic slur was found spray-painted on the outside wall of the children's center (pictured), setting the building on fire in yet another hate crime to plague Sydney
“The shocking rise of anti-Semitism in our country is a national crisis that requires a national response,” Dutton said.
'I have requested the Prime Minister for the first time to convene a National Cabinet on anti-Semitism in November 2023. He didn't succeed.
“Last week I wrote to him again asking for a National Cabinet meeting on this most pressing issue, but he is still evading his responsibility.”
Just 24 hours after the coalition's campaign promise, Albanese said he will hold a meeting of state and territory leaders on Tuesday evening.
He is expected to make this official on Tuesday afternoon.
It came after an apparently anti-Semitic firebomb attack destroyed a daycare center in Sydney's eastern suburbs on Tuesday morning.
Emergency services were called to the Only About Children childcare center on the corner of Anzac Parade and Storey Street, Maroubra, at around 1am after reports of a fire.
The arsonists set fire to the children's center and painted an anti-Semitic slur on the outside wall.
Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, had written to Mr Albanese last month to request an urgent meeting of the national cabinet following the terror attack on Melbourne's Adass Synagogue. But his request fell on deaf ears. (Mr Ryvchin is pictured with his wife outside their former family home, which was targeted on Friday)
A series of deeply disturbing anti-Semitic attacks in recent days and weeks, including the firebombing of a synagogue and an attack on the former home of a prominent Jewish leader (pictured), has prompted the Coalition to announce a series of tough new measures.
Police believe the attack may have targeted the wrong property as there is a synagogue 150 meters away in Anzac Parade and the damaged nursery was not connected to it..
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the attack as a “malicious hate crime.”
“My government will support NSW Police in tracking down the offenders and ensuring they face the full force of the law through Operation Avalite,” Mr Albanese said.
Dr. Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Australia's main civil rights organization fighting anti-Semitism, said Mr Albanese's decision to convene a national cabinet meeting had come “at last”.
“The alarm bells have been heard, but let's not confuse this with progress: this is survival,” he said.
“Australia is on the brink of a moral reckoning, and the meeting of state and territory leaders is not only too late; it is an act of national triage to stop the bleeding before it is too late.
“The attempted arson of a children's center in Maroubra, covered in toxic anti-Jewish graffiti, is not just a hate crime – it is a declaration of war against decency, a grotesque symbol of how far the rot of anti-Semitism has spread.
Dr. Abramovich said the “national cabinet cannot be another talk party; it must be the beginning of an uncompromising, united offensive against the forces of hatred that are poisoning our communities.”
“The agenda must be clear: nationwide legal reform to criminalize anti-Semitic crimes with the harshest penalties, zero-tolerance enforcement that removes ambiguity, and a commitment to education so unyielding that no Australian grows up ignorant of the Holocaust or blind to its dangers of prejudice,” he added.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton announced his plan for stricter laws to combat anti-Semitism on Monday.
Terrorist crimes would carry a minimum of six years in prison under the coalition's proposed laws, while those displaying signs of terrorist organizations, Nazi symbols or giving a Nazi salute would face at least a year behind bars.
“They force courts to impose sentences when the circumstances do not justify it due to the nature of the crime or the background of the perpetrator,” he said.
