Antisemitism ASIO’s top priority

“On the threat to life, our number one priority now is investigating antisemitic acts in this country,” Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) director-general Mike Burgess told ABC radio, after delivering his annual threat assessment on February 19.

The threat assessment highlighted Jew hatred. “Antisemitism festered in Australia before the tragic events in the Middle East, but the drawn-out conflict gave it oxygen – and gave some antisemites an excuse. Jewish Australians were also increasingly conflated with the state of Israel, leading to an increase in antisemitic incidents,” Burgess said.

“The normalisation of violent protest and intimidating behaviour lowered the threshold for provocative and potentially violent acts. Narratives originally centred on ‘freeing Palestine’ expanded to include incitements to ‘kill the Jews’. Threats transitioned from harassment and intimidation to specific targeting of Jewish communities, places of worship and prominent figures. I am concerned these attacks have not yet plateaued.”

The address raised concerns about the radicalisation of minors and the use of organised crime to undermine Australian interests. There is speculation that criminals are involved in the recent surge in antisemitic attacks.

Meanwhile, Sydney Sheik Ibrahim Dadoun reportedly told his supporters, “When will the ASIO boss tell Australians if the Mossad had anything to do with the wave of manufactured antisemitic attacks conducted by known criminals?” and, “It is highly likely, in fact plausible, and a real possibility that Mossad manufactured [the] wave of antisemitic attacks.”

Dadoun was a director at the Australian National Imams Council until late 2024, and currently works for United Muslims of Australia which reportedly received over $3m in federal funding last year. On October 8, 2023, Dadoun praised Hamas’s October 7 attacks, saying, “It’s a day of courage, it’s a day of resistance, it’s a day of pride, it’s a day of victory.”

Coalition Home Affairs spokesman James Paterson condemned Dadoun’s remarks. “It’s grossly irresponsible to promote unfounded conspiracy theories like this in the middle of an antisemitism crisis,” Paterson said, calling for the government to rescind funding to groups that “employed Dadoun”.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin stated, “The problem is not that figures like Dadoun hold such views, it is that they hold positions of influence in their communities, which they use to spout conspiracy theories.

“The Jewish community is of course appalled by his comments but the condemnation should be led by other Islamic leaders … to ensure such views never become acceptable.”