Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has denounced “horrific” displays of anti-Semitism in Sydney as an escalating crisis in the Middle East leads to warnings of further tensions in Australia.
Demonstrators chanted “f— the Jews”, and burned an Israeli flag at the forecourt of the Opera House on Monday night, as its sails were illuminated in blue and white in what was intended as a sombre display after Hamas’ assault on Israel.
Albanese condemned the protestors and appealed for calm.
“We need to lower the temperature,” the PM said. “I don’t want to see conflict here in Australia and I don’t want to see the sort of scenes that I saw last night.”
Police in London and elsewhere in Europe have increased patrols in response to fears of attacks on Jewish communities.
Former ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma said the unfolding of events in Gaza would pose further security risks in Australia.
“Passions are already running high in Australia and I expect this will only grow in coming days and weeks, and some of our more vulnerable communities — not only Jewish, but also Islamic communities — might need reassurance and heightened protection,” he said
‘Heightened risk’
The former Liberal MP for Wentworth called for the Cabinet’s national security committee to be convened to respond to events in Israel and their implications for domestic security.
“There will also, sadly, be a heightened risk of terrorism globally and here in Australia, a threat we must assess and take seriously,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Albanese rejected a call from Peter Dutton to convene the committee and accused the Opposition Leader of politicising the issue.
“There is no issue too big for Peter Dutton to not show, once again, how small his view is,” the Prime Minister said.
He defended the government’s handling of the situation, saying it had received “appropriate briefings from appropriate officials and agencies”.
NSW Premier Chris Minns condemned the “shocking and abusive” behaviour at the Opera House, which NSW Police said they were investigating.
More rallies are planned in Sydney and Melbourne on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister should be convening the National Security Council as a matter of urgency.
Dave Sharma, former Ambassador to Israel
Israel has called up a record 300,000 reservists in the prelude to the first deployment of ground troops in the Palestinian enclave in nearly a decade.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campaign was “just getting started”.
Hamas, which led the weekend assault that left 900 Israeli citizens dead, vowed to respond in kind.
The group has kidnapped more than 100 people, including women, children, Israeli soldiers and foreign nationals and said it would televise the execution of a hostage in response to air strikes that hit civilians in Gaza.
There have been 687 deaths in Gaza since Saturday.
Support for Israel
The Israeli government has cut off the water and electricity supply to Gaza, the densely populated strip of 2.3 million people that borders Egypt.
US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and the leaders of Germany, France, and Italy have released a statement offering renewed support for Israel and an “unequivocal condemnation” of Hamas for its “appalling acts of terrorism”.
Stoking fears of a wider regional conflict, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah stated that it had launched rockets and mortars at two Israeli military posts.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged “all sides” to permit “urgent humanitarian assistance” for Palestinian civilians confined in Gaza.
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