Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman, has warned of what he described as a dangerous rise in antisemitism in the country, writing that in 26 years as an Israeli diplomat he has never encountered such levels of hatred toward Israel and Jews.
In a sharp opinion column published in The Australian, Newman said he had served as Israel’s ambassador in two Muslim-majority countries, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, but did not experience there the level of hostility he now sees in Australia. “It is sad to say this, but the truth must be said,” Newman wrote. “Throughout my 26-year career as an Israeli diplomat I have never seen such levels of hatred of Israel, and of Jews, as I experience and witness here in Australia. I served as ambassador in two Muslim countries. Yet I did not see these levels of hatred.”
(Photo: DAVID GRAY / AFP)
Newman wrote that in those countries he encountered “non-radicalised and unpoliticised Muslims” who, he said, showed more understanding of the issues related to Israel than what he called “the obsessive herds on the streets of Australia calling for Israel’s annihilation and protesting against Israel’s existence.”
The ambassador argued that modern antisemitism is increasingly disguised as moral activism. “In a reverse of moral and immoral, this modern antisemitism disguises itself as virtue,” he wrote. “They dress it up as caring for some humanitarian cause. It is not love or care of any kind that drives them. It is hatred. Hatred of Jews and hatred of Israel, the one and only majority Jewish state.”
Newman also referred to testimony being heard by Australia’s royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion, established after the terrorist attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach during Hanukkah, in which 15 Jews were murdered. “As the royal commission continues its important work, we hear witness testimonies and are exposed to the levels of Jew-hatred in Australia,” he wrote.
According to Newman, alongside classic antisemitism, anti-Zionism has become a newer form of the same hatred. “Those who feel that it may not be as popular as in the past to attack Jews dress up their Jew-hatred as hatred of the Jewish state,” he wrote. “They then try to camouflage their hatred, calling it ‘legitimate criticism’ of the state of Israel.”
Newman stressed that there is legitimate criticism of Israeli government policy, including within Israel itself. “I have seen legitimate criticism of the policies of the Israeli government,” he wrote. “As a robust democracy, Israel is full of self-reflection and internal criticism.”
But, he argued, the demonstrations seen in Australian cities cross a very different line. “However, what we see on the streets of Australian cities is not legitimate criticism of policy decisions, it is pure antisemitic hatred,” Newman wrote. “Hostility once directed at individual Jews is increasingly transposed on to the collective Jewish national experience — that is, on to the state of Israel.”
Newman pointed to the demonstration outside the Sydney Opera House shortly after Hamas’ October 7 massacre in Israel as what he called “one clear and obvious sign” of this shift. According to reports cited by Newman, demonstrators chanted “Gas the Jews.” “This predated Israel’s incursion into Gaza,” he wrote. “So, what were they protesting? They were celebrating the slaughter of 1200 Israelis and Jews.”
He also argued that the slogan “From the river to the sea” should not be treated as ordinary political criticism. “When people march and chant ‘From the river to the sea’, they are not expressing legitimate criticism of Israel’s policies,” Newman wrote. “They are not supporting coexistence and a two-state solution. They are calling for the annihilation of the state of Israel. That is a sign.”
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(צילום: רויטרס)
Newman cited remarks by ASIO director-general Mike Burgess, who said in his annual national threat assessment: “Hatred of Jews is one thing virtually all the violent extremist cohorts have in common. I recognise that criticism of the government of Israel is not of itself antisemitic but some of the threatening statements made by the perpetrators go well beyond political protest or commentary.”
The ambassador said attempts to deny Israel the right to defend itself against Hamas are part of the same pattern. “Their wish to deny Israel the right of self-defence against the barbaric Hamas terrorists is just a continuation of that approach,” Newman wrote. “While they would understand any regime that acts to prevent such a murder spree, they wish to deny that right to Israel.”
He rejected accusations that Israel’s military operation in Gaza is “disproportionate” or “genocide,” arguing that such claims are meant to deny Israel’s right to self-defense. “When people claiming to care for Palestinians resort to lies and deception, this is an indication of the real motivation,” he wrote.
Newman accused Israel’s critics of applying double standards, saying many activists focus obsessively on Israel while ignoring Iran, Syria and the treatment of Palestinians in refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria. “If people demonstrate against Israel, engaged in a self-defence operation, but neglect to protest against Iran, which butchered more than 40,000 of its own people, or neglect to even mention half a million casualties in Syria, or ignore the butchering of minorities in Syria, or ignore the plight of Palestinians perpetuated in refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria, then one should understand that it is not human care driving them but selective human hatred,” he wrote.
Newman also criticized those who support Indigenous Australians’ connection to land, history and ancestry, while denying the Jewish people’s historic connection to the Land of Israel. “When people promote and support the connection Indigenous Australians have to land, history and ancestry yet deny and refuse to recognise the historic connection between the Jews and the land of Israel, as documented in the Bible, archaeological artifacts and literature, this is a sign,” he wrote.
He again quoted Burgess, who warned: “When antisemitism grows after being tolerated and normalised, we are shocked — but we should not be surprised. When inflammatory rhetoric and provocative protest lead to violence, we are shocked — but we should not be surprised.”
Newman concluded that the repeated accusations against Israel are not legitimate criticism, but a continuation of older antisemitic patterns. “Make no mistake — the obsessive, multi-ranged, wild, unfounded accusations thrown time and time again at Israel are not legitimate criticism,” he wrote. “They are not caring for anyone. They are driven by hate. They are a manifestation of antisemitism.”
“There is a continuous line from the blood libels of the past — accusing Jews of contaminating wells during the black plague or using blood of babies for baking unleavened bread for Passover — to the blood libels of the modern period: genocide, training dogs to rape and starvation,” he wrote.
Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Hillel NewmanBefore his current post, Newman served as a senior policy adviser to the Knesset from 2024 to 2026 and as chief of staff in the office of Israel’s foreign minister from 2023 to 2024. From 2019 to 2023, he served as consul general in Los Angeles, representing Israel in seven U.S. states. He previously served as Israel’s ambassador to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan from 2008 to 2013, as well as in senior policy and strategy roles at the Foreign Ministry.
Before joining the diplomatic service, Newman taught Jewish history and Jewish studies at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and Boston University in the United States. He holds a doctorate in Jewish history from Bar-Ilan University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in psychology and Jewish history.
Australia’s royal commission is continuing its hearings. At this stage, it is examining the spread of antisemitic content and hate speech online, as well as manifestations of antisemitism in traditional media and broadcasting. Last month, the commission’s chair, former justice Virginia Bell, rejected a government request to keep certain documents related to the inquiry secret.