Beware false messiahs

Many Jews whether religious or not, believe in the idea of the messiah delivering for the Jewish people. The way some Jews campaigned at the recent federal election, it seemed they cast Peter Dutton, a vocal supporter of Israel, as that messiah, expecting he would become the new prime minister and cast out the "evil" Albanese Labor government.

Australian Jewish leadership, historically politically neutral virtually bet the house on Dutton winning, and a large and loud section of the Jewish community banked on them being right.

It was a dramatic failure: the Australian community rejected what the Liberals were selling, by a large margin.

The election campaign must be seen as a massive failure by the leadership of the Jewish community in political management, powered by what can only be described as an extraordinary level of arrogance.

The events of the October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel and the subsequent shocking rise in Jew hatred in Australia has of course had a massive and profound impact on all of our community. The dismay and the anger directed toward the government has been felt by Jews of all political persuasions.

Let’s be clear, the government warranted strong criticism. The Jewish community has justifiably felt shaken to the core by the rise in antisemitism in Australia. Many Jews now question our place in this society.

For the first time ever, many Jewish voters considered this the central and only issue in determining how they might choose to vote. By the end of 2024 and especially following the Adass synagogue fire-bombing in Melbourne a huge chunk of Jewish Labor voters was for the first time in their lives considering not voting Labor.