Australians have the right to criticise Israeli government policy. But delegitimising that country’s right to exist is something else entirely.
In Jewish homes around the world this week, families will place a menorah in their windows. We light it not for decoration but as a declaration. A reminder of a miracle and the courage of a people who refuse to be erased. That small flame symbolises resilience and visibility. It also calls us to confront darkness wherever it appears.
That darkness has now reached our shores. What once seemed unthinkable is now real. The safety of Jews in this country is no longer assured, and Jewish life here will never be the same.
For generations, Australia was our lucky country. A haven for Holocaust survivors and refugees who built new lives, believing this land was different. A place where hatred found no foothold and where Jewish communities thrived and contributed to every part of national life. That sense of security has been shattered.
Actions have consequences. But so does inaction. For more than two years, calls for the annihilation of the world’s only Jewish state and for a global war on Jews have gone unchecked on our streets. We have watched as our landmarks were taken over, as Israel was demonised in international forums, as Israelis were refused entry to Australia, as modern libels of genocide, apartheid and colonialism were propagated with impunity. Institutions ignored it or failed to act on it, insisting that it was simply politics or protest or free expression. On Sunday, at least 15 people paid the consequences with their lives.
What our leaders, media and institutions have failed to grasp is the direct correlation between the delegitimisation of Israel and the safety of Australian Jews.
Australians can criticise Israeli government policy, Israelis do it fiercely themselves. But delegitimising Israel’s right to exist is something else entirely.
In the months after the October 7 attack, too many voices in public life lost that basic clarity, and it has had consequences at home. When Israel is singled out as uniquely evil and Jews are expected to denounce the Jewish state to earn safety, that rhetoric does not stay confined to foreign policy. It becomes a permission structure for intimidation and violence against Jewish Australians.
Australia shares democratic values with Israel, not with Hamas, and our leaders should be able to say so plainly while still allowing legitimate debate about policy.
Remaining silent in the face of this Jew hate has empowered and emboldened it. Yet even amid horror, there were moments of extraordinary bravery. Ordinary Australians ran towards danger, shielded strangers and saved lives. They showed us what it looks like to be a light in dark times. That is now the task before every Australian.
This Hanukkah, we need more than candles in the window. We need Australians of all backgrounds to be the light – and to reclaim the values that made this country a place of safety and inclusion for everyone. To say clearly, without qualification, that there is no place for hate here. That anti-Zionism, with its obsessive conspiracy theories and relentless libels, is not a social justice movement; it is the modern iteration of the world’s oldest hatred. Unless we confront it honestly, the violence will continue.
Australia is at a crossroads. The light will not return on its own. It will come from those who refuse to stay silent, who stand up for truth over conspiracy, for inclusion over hatred, for the safety of all Australians over the comfort of denial.
This is our moment to be the light.
Jeremy Leibler is president of the Zionist Federation of Australia and a partner at Arnold Bloch Leibler.
“We need Australians of all backgrounds to be the light – and to reclaim the values that made this country a place of safety and inclusion for everyone.”