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Australian spy chief Mike Burgess has criticized political and media leaders for failing to adequately address the rise of antisemitism in the country. He emphasized that while criticism of the state of Israel is legitimate, it must be clearly distinguished from hostility toward Jewish people.
Why it matters
The statement highlights growing concerns over social cohesion and the safety of minority communities in Australia following the escalation of Middle East tensions.
Spy chief Mike Burgess says there has been a widespread failure to tackle antisemitism
Australia’s spy chief has said Australia’s politicians, community leaders and media have not done enough to keep Australia’s Jewish community safe from antisemitism.
The director general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Mike Burgess , spoke at length on a podcast hosted by broadcaster Neil Mitchell.
“We still have antisemitism as a problem and that does concern me,” he said:
double quotation mark It’s got to a pretty high, disturbing level.
It raised its ugly head after the 7th of October. It started with threatening, intimidating behaviour and then, a year later, it transitioned to direct targeting of people, places of worship and businesses. And then we saw the death of 15 people. I reckon that’s a bad place for us to be.
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