A rabbi says the Australian Jewish community is “absolutely reeling” following revelations Iran orchestrated at least two antisemitic attacks in Melbourne and Sydney but that there is also a sense of “I told you so”.
Melbourne rabbi Gabi Kaltmann, speaking to the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, said the news was shocking.
Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann pictured at a 2023 Hanukkah event.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
“But there’s also a sense of an ‘I told you so’ moment overcoming the community,” Kaltmann said. He said the community had felt under attack since the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, “and we’ve been begging the government for more support. In some ways it has come; in other ways it hasn’t.
“People have really let loose on Jewish institutions, synagogues and community members. We haven’t felt safe, but we have stayed united. We have stayed strong.
“Ultimately, to now be told that it’s a foreign government involved in attacking Jewish Australians … is just horrific news.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said the revelations were something the Jewish community had always feared.
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“On one level, this brings some sort of closure and greater clarity as to who was responsible and why. But knowing that a foreign regime that has committed terror attacks throughout the world is targeting Australian Jews, it’s absolutely terrifying,” Ryvchin said.
“This is obviously a complex scheme involving the regime and local operatives. We want to know whether there were Australian citizens or foreigners involved, what’s their visa status. Are they still at large?”
Ryvchin called on Albanese and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put aside “petty matters” and work together to combat Iran.
“I think the lesson from this is that we share common enemies,” he said.
