Islamic extremist group fuelling antisemitism

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess has warned that Australia faces an unprecedented threat from foreign governments willing to assassinate political dissidents on Australian soil, while Islamic extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir deliberately fuels antisemitism to dangerous levels.

In a stark speech to the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Tuesday night, Burgess revealed that at least three foreign countries are capable of carrying out “lethal targeting” in Australia, with hostile regimes potentially attempting to cover their tracks like Iran did when it directed recent antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.

“Given the degrading trajectory of our security environment and the growing willingness of regimes to conduct high-harm operations, ASIO assesses there is a realistic possibility a foreign government will attempt to assassinate a perceived dissident in Australia. This threat is real,” Burgess said.

The security chief’s warnings come as he accused Hizb ut-Tahrir of using tactics “very similar” to those of the National Socialist Network, comparing the Islamic extremist group with neo-Nazis. Amid calls for the Albanese government to proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organisation, Burgess said that the group uses anti-Israel rhetoric to fuel and normalise “wider antisemitic narratives”.

“The organisation’s condemnation of Israel and Jews attracts media attention and aids recruitment, but it deliberately stops short of promoting onshore acts of politically motivated violence,” Burgess said.