Labor MP Mark Dreyfus complains of online attacks from other Jews
The former Attorney-General, who was once Australia’s senior Jewish politician, said he was called a ‘kapo’ and other abusive terms.
Former Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus told an inquiry today he had been called a “kapo” — the word for Jewish collaborators with the Nazi regime — and received other abuse from fellow Jews after war broke out between Israel and Hamas in 2023.
In evidence to the anti-Semitism royal commission on Monday morning, the Labor MP described the pain of receiving online abuse and being unable to defend himself because he was expected to defend the Albanese Labor Government.
“I found those attacks from Jewish Australians particularly difficult and painful because I wasn’t in a position to respond fully or perhaps at all to the attacks and demands made by some Jewish Australians because I was a Cabinet minister,” he said.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“It’s particularly distressing to Jewish Australians to see Holocaust language used as part of an attack on a Jewish Australian.
“Use of the word nazi to describe a Jew. Use of the word kapo, which is a reference to particular Jews who operated in the concentration camp context.
“To have been called a kapo is a direct accusation of treachery to the Jewish people. This is an attack that has come at me from some Jewish Australians.”
Kapos received privileges, including better food, for supervising forced labourers or carrying out administrative jobs in the Nazi camps, which eliminated an estimated 6 million Jews and other minority groups in World War II.
A community divided
Mr Dreyfus did not say why he was targeted and his office declined offer any clarification. The Australian-Jewish community is split over the war, although most prominent Jewish leaders say the vast majority of Jews support Israel and are therefore considered Zionists, a group often targeted for abuse.
The left-wing Jewish Council of Australia has frequently attacked the Albanese Government over its positions on the Middle East conflict, including Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit in February, which it said was “completely inappropriate and offensive”.
On the other side, right-wing Jewish leaders criticised the Albanese Government for recognising a Palestinian state last September, three months before the Bondi Beach massacre, which led to the royal commission being created under former judge Virginia Bell.
Melbourne rabbi Yonason Johnson last year said he would not shake Anthony Albanese’s hand after the prime minister visited the firebombed Adass Israel Synagogue. He also said he would not be Mr Albanese’s “court-Jew”.
The inquiry is considering whether opposition to Israel’s foreign and military policies has morphed into anti-Semitism and what more should be done to protect Jews.
Mr Dreyfus suggested allowing individuals to take cheap legal action against social media sites that refuse to remove offensive posts. The right would be part of a requirement the federal government wants to introduce for a “digital duty of care” by Meta and other large technology companies.
He said a government agency might be too busy to enforce the rule, and people could be allowed to ask a court or tribunal to make a quick decision whether posts should be removed. The people who complained would not have to cover the legal costs of the companies if they were unsuccessful, he said.
“Big Tech are the original deep pockets,” he told the inquiry. “They have income and revenues that exceed small countries and even big countries. Grappling with that is really worth looking at.”
Until losing his Cabinet job in 2025, Mr Dreyfus was Australia’s most senior Jewish politician. Three of his grandparents died in the Holocaust. He holds the Melbourne seat of Isaacs, which is named after Australia’s first Jewish Governor-General, Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs.
