Published: 1 May 2025
Last updated: 1 May 2025
Many Jewish Australians have been sold a lie this election. They have been told that rising antisemitism and controversial Israel-Palestine policy mean they have no choice but to reject the Labor government. Such a claim is self-serving Liberal politicking.
Like all Australians, Jews should vote for whichever government we believe best represents our interests and the interests of the society to which we belong. Very few Jews will vote for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation given its hostility to minorities, and very few will vote Greens given the party’s hostility to Israel and insensitivity to Australian Jews.
But between these extremes, we may legitimately vote left or right, according to our beliefs; select major or minor parties or independents according to who we think will best represent us; and vote ideologically or strategically, as we choose.
There is not a significant difference between the major parties’ policies on antisemitism, and the differences in foreign policy are neither substantive nor impactful. Neither the experience of antisemitism faced by Jewish Australians nor the conflict in Israel-Palestine is likely to change as a result of who wins this election.
It is not sensible to allow our passions about foreign policy or our fears about antisemitism to swamp our assessments of the core issues that are at stake: economic policy, environmental management, and which government is most likely to build an equitable, safe and cohesive society.
Comments4
Simon Krite2 May at 05:49 am
What a load of rubbish !
To suggest that Jewish Australians are being “sold a lie” this election & that concerns over antisemitism and foreign policy are “self-serving Liberal politicking” is not just insulting. It is a dismissal of months of trauma, silence, and political cowardice. The Jewish community hasn’t been duped. We’ve been watching, and what we’ve seen from this Labor government is nothing short of a profound failure of moral leadership.
Did you even see what happened on Opera House steps? and the not a whisper from the party now asking us to ignore their record.This wasn’t a foreign policy issue. This was an Australian antisemitism issue, on Australian soil. And Labor failed and have continued to fail ever since.
The Greens Are Not a Fringe Threat — They’re Labor’s Partner.
Penny wongs UN Obsession.
And the claim that Dutton and Albanese differ “in style, not substance” is absurd. Dutton has been unequivocal: “antisemitism is antisemitism”, whether it comes from neo-Nazis or the radical left. He has promised to deport non-citizens who incite hate against Jews. Albanese, by contrast, spent six months offering platitudes while avoiding the word “Jew” in statements on antisemitism. His refusal to call out who is driving this hatred – largely Islamist activists and radical left agitators is an act of cowardice, not statesmanship.
No serious voice is saying Jewish Australians should vote on Israel alone. But the idea that we are at fault for raising legitimate concerns is manipulative. Jewish voters are not monolithic, but we are allowed to draw lines.
This election is not about abandoning our Australian identity – it’s about protecting it. Because no cost-of-living policy, energy plan, or economic vision is worth a society where Jewish Australians are shouted down, excluded, or worse — gaslit into silence.
We are not voting in fear. We are voting with our eyes wide open. We cant unsee the pathetic way this Labor government have equivocate on the issue of Antisemitism.
Corinne1 May at 08:48 am
Thanks for that wise and tempered article. Australia won’t change the world political stage as regards Israel one bit. There are many important issues that affect us in Australia as citizens here.
Alan Slade1 May at 08:05 am
Further to my previous post, the statement “Some argue that the ALP’s policy is an indication of hostility to Israel which has a direct relationship to the rise in antisemitism….. is a contention that can’t be substantiated or disproven but it fails the basic test of correlation and causation” ignores that fact that the majority of non-involved Australians do not differentiate between Jews and Israelis or between Palestinians and Muslims. Furthermore, that not one person involved in the disgraceful Sydney Opera House “protest”, happening days before any Israeli reaction, has been prosecuted, is proof of the link between anti-Israel and antisemitism in our general population.
Alan Slade1 May at 07:53 am
The statement “There is not a significant difference between the major parties’ policies on antisemitism, and the differences in foreign policy are neither substantive nor impactful” is patently and provable incorrect. The Labor Party’s voting record in the UN with respect to Israel, which broke 75 years of bipartisan foreign policy towards Israel can only be described as “substantive” and “impactful”.