Iran war ‘a fight for Western civilisation’

Israel’s new ambassador to Australia has described the war against Iran as “a fight for Western civilisation” and praised the Australian government’s consistent support for the joint US-Israel operation.

Hillel Newman, who arrived in Australia a month ago, addressed members of the Sydney Jewish community at a Zionist Council of NSW and Zionist Federation of Australia welcome event on Wednesday. In a Q&A with Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) NSW president Moshe Kadoury, he said the Iran conflict was “not a clash of civilisations” but “a clash of barbarism with civilisation”.

“This is a fight not for Israel. It’s a fight for civilisation in general and against barbarism,” he said.

Newman spoke of the coordination between the United States and Israel in regard to the operation, calling it “unprecedented”.

He spoke of the Islamic Republic’s plan to create a “circle of fire” around Israel through Hezbollah in the north, Hamas in the south and inciting the population in Judea and Samaria.

“We’re removing all these threats, because the moment you remove the head of the snake, the head of the octopus, then all of these tentacles of the octopus will fall, and then we’ll see a different Middle East,” Newman said.

He said removing Iran’s power would enable moderate Arab and Muslim countries to normalise relations with Israel. “Their fear is not from Israel. Their fear is from their fellow Muslim brothers, from the radicals in their own camp of the Muslim religion,” he said.

“So if you remove this fear barrier, you remove the power of the radicals, and you empower the moderates of the Arab world, the Muslim world, we’re talking about a different Middle East.”

Newman said the Australian government had been “consistent in their support” from day one of the joint Israel-US effort against Iran. “The government of Australia is being forthcoming and open, and we’re having very candid conversations,” he said.

“We know we’ve had low relations in the past year or two, and when I was appointed, Foreign Minister [Gideon] Sa’ar called me up and he said, ‘You’ve got a challenging position. Make a change’. And I can feel that there is a change taking place. From day one, I was accepted very warmly. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we’re actually moving forward.”

He added that his experience with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and other government leaders had been positive. He also mentioned meeting Speaker of the House Milton Dick, Wong and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke within his first week of submitting credentials.

On combating misinformation and antisemitism, Newman said Israel had not allocated sufficient resources to public diplomacy. “Israel is not perfect, and we did not put the resources that are required into this aspect,” he said.

However, he said every individual could now be an ambassador through social media. “Today, one tweet can be worth more than an article in The New York Times,” Newman said.

He said the main manifestation of antisemitism today was antizionism, though classic antisemitism still existed. “When they call from the river to the sea and are calling for annihilation and the killing of Jews, that’s pure antisemitism,” he said.

“It also manifests itself in the hypocrisy, when you have human rights activists who can’t recognise the fact that Israeli women were sexually attacked by Hamas. And some of them are even declared Australian of the Year.

“They try their best to deny and not accept the facts. There’s documented facts, and they’re, ‘no, it’s been debunked’. It hasn’t been debunked. It’s just lies, it’s just deception on their part in order to try and stick to their anti-Israel agenda.”

Newman also took aim at those who accuse Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. “There isn’t any genocide … if you check the facts, we had the lowest proportion of ratio of non-combatants that were killed in the history of warfare,” he said.

“But they don’t care about that. And they also don’t care to mention 500,000 Syrians who were killed and the millions killed in the Arab world. That doesn’t interest them, only Israel. When they focus only on Israel, then it’s pure antisemitism.”

He said the government of Australia had taken antisemitism seriously, particularly following the Bondi Beach attack.

Newman said he was in Israel when the massacre occurred and was amazed by the response. “It was as if Israelis were attacked on the streets of Tel Aviv, the shock, the solidarity, the feeling of mourning,” he said.

“There is now a definite covenant of blood. Just like Hamas terrorists shoot at a Nova festival and kill Israelis, you have terrorists who shoot in Australia and kill at a Chanukah party. It’s the same manifestation. It’s the same destiny. We’re in a destiny together.”

He said Israel advocated for the Jewish community’s security with Australian authorities but could not physically accept responsibility for protecting Jewish communities abroad.

Newman added that he had raised security concerns and called for more efficient funding and for attackers to be indicted for hate crimes rather than dismissed as individuals with mental problems in his meeting with Burke.

Talking about his first month in the role, he said “it’s been a blast. It’s really been a roller coaster.”

“My first intentions were to reach out to all the communities, all the organisations, visit Sydney, visit Melbourne, visit all the communities or the supporters of Israel. And things just changed overnight,” he said.

But he added: “We were warmly accepted, I must say, by the government of Australia, by the Jewish communities.”