14 members of crime ring connected to antisemitic attacks arrested in Australia

New South Wales Police in Australia revealed on Monday that they arrested 14 criminals of an organized ring linked to attacks that were previously believed to be ideologically driven by antisemitism. The arrested individuals were charged with 65 offenses, which include membership in a “criminal group” and destruction of property. 

However, New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson now believes that antisemitism was being used as a cover for wider criminal activities in Australia. 

“None of the individuals we have arrested… have displayed any form of antisemitic ideology,” Hudson assessed. “I think these organized crime figures have taken an opportunity to play off the vulnerability of the Jewish community.”

The police revealed that a criminal network had fabricated an alleged plan to attack a Sydney synagogue by using a trailer filled with explosives. On Monday, the police announced that it was likely a “criminal con job” and claimed there was no intention to attack specific Jewish targets. 

“The caravan was never going to cause a mass casualty event but instead was concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal benefit,” Krissy Barrett, Australian Federal Police deputy commissioner for National Security, stated during a press conference. 

“Almost immediately, experienced investigators… believed that the caravan was part of a fabricated terrorism plot – essentially a criminal con job,” she continued. 

With a population of around 100,000, Australia’s Jewish community is a small but well-integrated and socioeconomically successful minority. Historically, Australia has been a tolerant and welcoming society, with relatively few antisemitic incidents until recent years.

However, the number of antisemitic incidents in Australia increased by 400% since the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, invasion and attack in Israel, according to a report compiled by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ).

In December, ECAJ Research Director Julie Nathan addressed the dramatic increase in antisemitic cases in Australia. 

“If anything, the raw numbers understate the seriousness of the surge in antisemitism that has occurred. There have been many new forms and expressions of anti-Jewish racism that would once have been considered alien to Australia, but which have become commonplace,” Nathan warned. 

Individuals with a Muslim or Middle Eastern background have played a disproportionate role in the recent antisemitic wave in Australian society. 

The head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Mike Burgess revealed earlier this month that the antisemitic threat has been defined as “top priority.” 

"Antisemitism and significant antisemitism acts are prominent in our investigation caseload at this point in time," Burgess stated. He further admitted that this was likely the first time in Australia’s history that a specific form of racism has been defined as a strategic societal threat. 

In February, two Muslim Sydney healthcare workers threatened to kill Israeli Jews and refuse to treat them at hospitals.