This morning our CEO, Dr Andre Oboler, was interviewed by Sally Sara on ABC Radio National on the government’s response to rise in antisemitic attacks over the summer.

Dr Oboler was asked to whether the level of antisemitism is likely to drop as tensions in the Middle East cool. He noted that in the past antisemitism has risen when tensions increase in the Middle East, but have rapidly returned to normal within days. This time we have had more than a year of extremely heightened levels of antisemitism, it has not returned to normal. There has been long term damage that needs to be repaired.

Asked why this time was different, Dr Oboler noted there has been a radicalisation among some pro-Palestinian advocates as well as a willingness to dismiss or ignore antisemitism among others. These are long term changes in attitude which have lasting negative impacts.

Dr Oboler was also asked about Islamophobia, noting that it too was significantly up online, but was not at level of antisemitism today. Dr Oboler noted that Islamophobia today was higher than antisemitism had been prior to October 7, but in that time antisemitism increased by a factor of 5, before dropping back to its currently level which is about 4 times pre-October 7 levels.

Dr Oboler noted how even before October 7 interfaith relationships had been under strain, but they had completely broken down after October 7. He called on governments to do more to restore relations between communities and community peak bodies.

Dr Oboler noted the work of the Online Hate Prevention Institute in monitoring antisemitism and other forms of hate, work which also results in the identification of antisemites, for example the Holocaust denier from Perth we identified a couple of days ago. Government is not properly engaged with the Online Hate Prevention Institute or making use of our intelligence, or engaging sufficiently in this space on their own, eSafety for instance has no remit on group-based hate.