‘Sham’ ad targets Herzog’s Australia visit
An anti-Zionist open letter opposing President Herzog’s visit included fake and highly controversial names.
(JEWISH NEWS UK) An anti-Zionist Jewish group in Australia has published an open letter opposing Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit that includes the names of Holocaust kapos, a vulgar Hebrew phrase, and a self-described Jew who previously wrote that “Hitler’s only mistake was stopping too soon.”
The Jewish Council of Australia (JCA), founded in 2024, describes itself as anti-Zionist and was established to challenge longstanding representative organisations within the Australian Jewish community, including the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ).
The advertisement, published in major Australian newspapers, called on Jews and allies to oppose Herzog’s visit, stating that the Israeli President was “not welcome”.
In a social media message on Monday, the organisation said: “Thanks to your support, our full-page ad is in today’s Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Over 1,000 Jews and thousands of allies have signed our open letter to say that Israeli President Isaac Herzog is not welcome here.”
The list of signatories published as part of the advertisement included the name “Milkek Tachat”, Hebrew slang translating to a vulgar insult.
Also listed were Josef Heiden, Eliezer Gruenbaum and Carmen Mory — all historical figures associated with Nazi concentration camps.
Heiden, an Austrian political prisoner, served as a kapo at Dachau concentration camp and was later freed by the Nazis before joining the Waffen SS.
Gruenbaum, a Communist activist arrested for his political activities, became a kapo at Auschwitz and was accused of involvement in the beatings of prisoners and in deaths within the camp.
Mory, a former journalist for the Manchester Guardian, later served as a Swiss spy for the Nazis and ultimately as a kapo at Ravensbrück concentration camp. Following the camp’s liberation, she died by suicide.
One contemporary signatory, Kate Emerson, wrote on social media in January 2024: “I am a Jew. I am Ashkenazi, as are most Jews around the world and in Israel itself. And all I can think about tonight was that Hitler’s only mistake was stopping too soon. Pity, that.”
In October, Alex Hearn, director of Labour Against Antisemitism, described attending synagogue before his social media accounts were flooded with antisemitic messages. Emerson responded: “These are the kinds of Jews who need driving from the world.”
Commenting on the advertisement, Hearn said: “This list of people using a Jewish identity to support destroying the Jewish state has been exposed as a sham. It appears to include a Hitler supporter who targets Jews for racist abuse, as well as Nazi kapos. Another name is a joke in Hebrew, which accurately conveys the nature of this anti-Zionist campaign.”
As part of its broader statement opposing the visit, the JCA also claimed that President Herzog’s rhetoric had been cited by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as evidence of genocidal intent. A speech by Herzog was referenced by parties seeking to support their case before the court, a characterisation the Israeli President has repeatedly rejected, arguing his remarks were selectively quoted and misrepresented.
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