Bankrupt activist refused Jewish charity payout

A Melbourne activist who led a chant of “All Zionists are terrorists” at a CBD rally has been ordered to pay $10,000 in compensation to Jewish community member Menachem Vorchheimer.

This comes after the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found the conduct breached the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 (Vic).

In a decision handed down on 22 June 2026, Vice President Judge Tran found that Hash Tayeh’s chant at the March 23, 2025 rally incited hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of the Jewish people.

Tayeh, who is bankrupt, gave an undertaking to VCAT never to lead or participate in the chant again, or to encourage others to use it.

He must also publish a statement acknowledging the tribunal’s findings, pinned for 28 days and remaining for at least 12 months on his Instagram and X accounts. The compensation order has been stayed for 30 days.

Judge Tran found Tayeh’s conduct had aggravated the harm.

After the earlier finding against him, Tayeh published a post referring to the decision that included the phrase “All Zebras are terrorists”, as well as a post containing abuse directed at Vorchheimer.

During the hearing, Vorchheimer suggested the money be directed to charity, an approach Tayeh’s counsel also supported. However, the parties could not agree on a recipient.

“We suggested two charities, one was the Jewish Centre for Law and Justice, and the answer was no, and then another charity we put forward was the Melbourne Jewish Charity Fund, which provides vital financial support to people desperately in need, and his counsel also said no to that charity,” Vorchheimer told The AJN.

He said recovering the money would come first. “Let’s first recover it, because, as the judgement notes, he is bankrupt at the moment,” he said.

Alessandra Steele, CEO of the Jewish Centre for Law and Justice said, “This outcome is an important vindication, not just for Menachem, but for every Jewish Australian who has felt unsafe in our cities while chants at protests demonise and dehumanise our people under cover of political speech.”

She said VCAT’s findings send a clear message: using language at protests that vilifies Zionists incites hatred against Jewish people and is unlawful.

“This result is a significant step in JCLJ’s mission of combatting antisemitism. It demonstrates that the law is flexible and robust enough to protect our community from modern manifestations of antisemitism, even where other avenues have failed to do so.”

Vorchheimer said the decision’s significance extended beyond Tayeh to the wider protest movement, warning the chant “cannot and must not be used”, and that those who used it “could face the full force of law”.

He also questioned why he had been left to pursue the matter himself.

“The question is why did I have to bring this action, why didn’t Victoria Police bring this action, not just against Mr Tayeh, but against many others in the anti-Israel movement for various chants and hateful conduct over the last three years?”

VCAT dismissed Vorchheimer’s application for costs, ruling each party must bear their own.