Australia’s ‘tolerance of anti-Semitism resulted in massacre’

By Joe Kelly

(December 17, 2025 / The Australian)

The Australian is a national daily newspaper published by News Corp that focuses on Australian and international news, politics, business, and opinion. It publishes to an audience of 18,750,000 (print and online). 

America’s pro-Israel voices sound a warning: Australia’s recognition of Palestine and tolerance of ‘globalize the Intifada’ chants have led to bloodshed at Bondi Beach.

America’s oldest pro-Israel group says Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state “only encourages more terrorism and more hatred against Jews,” and is urging Anthony Albanese to give a major speech condemning pro-Palestine rallies where protesters supported a global Intifada.

National President of the Zionist Organization of America, Mort Klein, told The Australian that – following the Bondi Beach massacre targeting the Jewish community – the Albanese government needed to get tougher on Imams promoting antisemitism and do more to counter Islamic extremism.

“We need major speeches by the head of Australia, by Donald Trump, by other world leaders and Muslim leaders condemning the rallies and demonstrations where they called for globalizing the Intifada, for murdering every Jew, for calling for gassing the Jews, for calling for ‘from the river to the sea’,” he said.

Mr. Klein said the recognition of a Palestinian state had sent a message to radical Islamists that “terrorism pays.” He assumed that nations like Australia had taken this step because they were “trying to appease their own Muslim populations in their countries, I don’t know – but it was certainly a serious mistake.”

Republican Senator Ted Cruz said the mass shooting was an ­example of what “globalizing the intifada” looks like in practice. He also took aim at rising antisemitism in Australia, pointing to the pro-Palestinian October 9 rally in 2023 at the Sydney Opera House which occurred in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel in which 1200 people were murdered.

The conservative Heritage Foundation, which helped to build the philosophical policy moorings of the second Trump administration, also said the Albanese government’s recognition of a Palestinian state had created a “permissive environment for those who already harbor antisemitic or anti-Zionist motivations to act upon their bigotry.”

Daniel Flesch, a senior policy analyst in the Allison Center for National Security at The Heritage Foundation, told The Australian that antisemitism and division in Australia was likely to “continue to worsen” following the Bondi massacre.

“It remains to be seen whether Prime Minister Albanese will heed the repeated calls for support from his Jewish citizens, or continue to ignore them, at which point you can expect to see further attacks against ­Australian Jews.”

He said the recognition of a Palestinian state was symptomatic of “weak and cowardly ­political leaders” who were “demonstrating that they are willing to forfeit relations with their democratic ally, and thereby put their minority Jewish population at risk, to appease an illiberal mob at home”. “In the West, a combination of political correctness and Leftist politicians prevent national or local governments from accurately identifying the problem and stopping the perpetrators. At the end of the day, however, what is ultimately at risk is not the ­Jewish people, but the fate of the society and country that allows this violence against the Jews to persist.”

Speaking on his podcast, The Verdict, Senator Cruz said it was “indisputable” that “when you have rhetoric calling for murder, you should not be surprised when murder results.”

Referring to the massacre at Bondi Beach, he said it was “a Jewish gathering celebrating Hanukkah. Among those targeted was at least one rabbi.”

“But look for those leftists who are putting out the phrase thoughts and prayers … I have a simple question. What do you think globalized the Intifada means?” he asked. “The Intifada is this. That is the Intifada being globalized. It is radical Islamist murdering Jews. If you chant ‘globalize the Intifada,’ you are saying you want more of this. That is why it is so wrong.”

The leader of the Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1897, Mr. Klein said Australia and other Western nations needed to directly address the problems of radical Islam and Muslim migration. This included condemning and calling out radical Islamic attacks when they occurred.

This article was originally published in The Australian.