JOSH FRYDENBERG: If we do not act now to stop anti-Semitism we will only further embolden those who hate

I remember the call, I remember the night. Sunday, October 8, 2023.

The phone rings. It’s a dad of one of my kids’ friends who asks in a quivering voice is it safe to send his son to school the next day.

I thought to myself: How has it come to this, that here in Australia thousands of kilometres away from the scene of Hamas’s deadly attack that we could feel so unsafe?.

And yet it was and yet it is.

Australia’s greatest citizen soldier and a proud Jew, Sir John Monash, would be turning in his grave.

The firebombings, the violent protests, the anti-Semitism and hate over the last 17 months has changed our lives and changed our country forever.

As former governor-general Sir Peter Cosgrove has said of events in Australia: “Hitler would be proud”.

At first, our leaders decided to ignore what was happening. Then they just hoped it would go away. Now they are starting to appreciate the depth of the problem.

But what has happened in the past is not what matters most right now.

It’s what we all decide to do from here.

Adversity is our window of opportunity.

I am pleased that we are now seeing movement at the station.

A meeting of National Cabinet, a Federal Police task force that is making arrests, minimum mandatory sentences, anti-doxxing legislation and at the State level a ban on demonstrations outside places of worship.

All of which are important, all of which are welcome, but the sum of which is not enough.

You see these measures are largely reactive and what we need to be is more proactive.

There is no point scooping water out of a leaking boat hoping it will not sink.

You must plug the leak in the first place, otherwise all on board — Jew and non-Jew — will eventually drown.

And this is my message today.

Our country is at a pivotal moment that goes well beyond the everyday incidents of intimidation and hate.

There is something deeper and more sinister at play and should concern every decent Australian.

What we are seeing in Australia and indeed across many countries in the West, is best summed up by journalist Bari Weiss who said when anti-Semitism goes from the shameful fringe to the public square it’s no longer about the Jews, it’s about everyone else.

It’s about the culture, it’s about the country.

An early warning system, a sign, that society itself is breaking down.

How else can you explain otherwise reputable bodies and reputable people defend the Bankstown nurses as simply those who were making a joke?

Or a vice chancellor at one of our leading universities seek to explain away a student’s public support for Hamas by invoking academic freedom?

Or others who justify the violent statements calling for the globalisation of the intifada and “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free” as simply matters of free speech?

With such moral blindness it’s no wonder our houses of learning have become hotbeds of hate and the anti-racists have become the racists and the progressives have become the regressives.

The disease of intolerance is spreading and it’s infecting so many including our young.

So now is the time to stand up and be counted before it’s too late.

To go back to basics and defend what is right over what is wrong.

To promote and uphold our values of tolerance, freedom and respect for the rule of law.

These are not Labor or Liberal values.

They are Australian values and they belong to all of us.

It’s time to mobilise the majority and take back the stage from the loud minority who have grabbed the microphone to defend the indefensible and whip up the hate.

It’s time to reform our education system and restate our pride in our country, our faith in our democracy and the integrity of our institutions.

And it’s time to bring back personal responsibility and accountability for people’s actions because if they are not consistent with our nation’s values there needs to be a price that must be paid.

Make no mistake, if we do not act now we will only further embolden those who hate and those who harm.

And it will only be a matter of time before another minority group is targeted next.

The knock-on effect of anti-Semitism is real and if left unchecked, the wall in our society which keeps the mob at bay will come crumbling down.

This is why combating anti-Semitism is Australia’s fight and not just the Jewish community’s fight and this is why combating anti-Semitism is not about daily events in Israel and the Middle East but about what is taking place in our own backyard.

There is no time to waste.

Things are moving fast and if we stand still we will fall further behind.

So today is an opportunity for all of us to look in the mirror and reflect on a simple question. Have we been doing enough?

Enough to inform ourselves and others about the seriousness of what is happening and what history tells us about where it all can lead?

Enough to innovate and educate using new technologies and solutions to address the most ancient of hatreds?

And enough to invest at scale in a national strategic approach that is commensurate with the challenge we face.

If not now, when?

If not us, who?

This is why a number of people have come together to establish the Dor Foundation, La Dor v’dor, to pass from one generation to the next our values, our history, our commitment to ensuring social cohesion in Australia and to reclaim what has been lost.

We are a non partisan, not for profit organisation, made up of Jews and non Jews who want to tackle this hate at its source initially on university campuses and on line where misinformation and disinformation is spread providing a fertile ground for antisemitism and hate.

Our approach is data-driven and designed not to replicate or replace existing bodies doing important work in these areas but rather in the spirit of co-operation and collaboration partner with them to innovate and scale up the response.

To be successful in this task we must put more focus on what unites us than what divides us.

The we not the me.

Promoting the values of fairness, freedom and tolerance.

The very glue that binds us and the respect for which gives us protection against those who seek to bring foreign conflicts, toxic ideologies and ancient hatreds to our shores.

Join us in our journey by registering your interest on our website as we seek to mobilise the majority and effect real and lasting change.

I wish we didn’t need to be here today at the antisemitism summit but given what has transpired over the last 17 months I am glad we are.

It’s a call to action to action at a time when it’s never been needed more.

This is Australia’s fight.

It’s a fight that we are all invested in.

It’s a fight that we all must and will win.

Josh Frydenberg is the former Federal Treasurer and led the Sky Documentary ‘Never Again: The Fight Against Antisemitism’. This is his full speech from the Sky Antisemitism Summit Sydney 20 February 2025.