Peter Dutton vows to ‘turn the tide of anti-Semitism’ in pre-election pitch to Jewish Australians

Peter Dutton has vowed to “turn the tide of anti-Semitism” and declared the Coalition “will not waver” in supporting Israel, restoring social cohesion, and making Jewish Australians feel safe again.

In a pre-election pitch and message to Jewish Australians to mark Rosh Hashanah, the Opposition Leader described himself as a leader of “moral clarity and courage”.

As he ramped up his attacks on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for being “weak” on anti-Semitism and “walking away from a bipartisanship approach” to Israel, Mr Dutton acknowledged the difficult 12 months experienced by the Jewish community.

“Perversely, the tragedy of October 7 has laid bare an anti-Semitic rot afflicting democracies around the world… On our own soil, on October 9, a seething mob gathered on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, seeking to strike fear into the hearts of Jewish Australians and incite violence against them,” Mr Dutton wrote on X.

“Due to a vacuum of political leadership, those inciting hatred and violence against Jewish Australians have been emboldened, and we’ve seen a more than 700 per cent increase in anti-Semitic events in Australia.

“Anti-Semitism is not only a threat to one segment of our community, it’s a threat to our social cohesion, to our democratic values, and to our way of life.”

His comments came as he accused the Albanese Government of wavering on long-held bipartisan foreign policy positions in lieu of “decisions that are of political benefit to them domestically”, after Mr Albanese declined to endorse retaliatory action from Israel for Iran’s missile attack.

Mr Albanese condemned Iran and repeated calls for a ceasefire and a de-escalation, while Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has reinforced calls for “urgent diplomatic solutions”.

Meanwhile, Mr Dutton had earlier backed police action to prevent pro-Palestinian protests planned for Monday, to mark the one year anniversary of October 7.

Mr Albanese has said October 7 is “not a time for demonstrations”, and NSW Police have applied to the Supreme Court court to stop what Mr Dutton described as a “grotesque” gathering.

The Human Rights Law Centre has called for the police commissioner to drop her legal application.

“Overly broad restrictions on our right to get together peacefully must not be NSW police’s first response; instead, authorities must focus on facilitating these rights and freedoms,” senior lawyer David Mejia-Canales said.