Australia’s antisemitic wave escalating and spreading

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A public hospital nurse who allegedly threatened to kill Israeli patients in a viral video posted by an Israeli influencer has been charged with three offences.

Sarah Abu Lebdeh, who worked at Bankstown-Lidcombe hospital, was charged with three offences including threatening violence, using a carriage service to threaten to kill and using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.

Strike Force Pearl investigators arrested and charged Abu Lebdeh late on Tuesday but no charges have been laid against Ahmed Rashid Nadir.

The New South Wales police commissioner, Karen Webb, said 14 people had been arrested so far under the operation targeting antisemitism, including Abu Lebdeh, and a total of 76 charges had been laid by the strike force.

“These charges have been laid following a lot of hard work and legal advice, received yesterday from the commonwealth director of public prosecutions,” she said on Wednesday.

“Detectives have overcome obstacles and jurisdictional challenges to get where we are today.”

Australia’s health practitioner watchdog has barred both nurses from working in the profession nationwide “in any context”.

The pair have also had their registrations suspended by the NSW Nursing and Midwifery Council.

The former nurse was granted conditional bail and is due to appear in court in March.

Antisemitism is now the "number one priority" of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the director-general of the agency, Mike Burgess, told a Senate committee on Tuesday.

"In terms of threats to life, [antisemitism is] my agency's number one priority because of the weight of incidents we're seeing play out in this country," he told the Senate. "Antisemitism and significant antisemitism acts are prominent in our investigation caseload at this point in time."

In a recent 2025 threat assessment on 19 February, Burgess said, "antisemitism festered in Australia before the tragic events in the Middle East, but the drawn-out conflict gave it oxygen – and gave some antisemites an excuse."

"Jewish Australians were also increasingly conflated with the state of Israel, leading to an increase in antisemitic incidents." He added that he was "concerned these attacks have not yet plateaued.

Expanding on this with the Senate, Burgess said he could not say whether the attacks and antisemitism had plateaued or not, but that he was concerned.

He did add that his agency has "seen a transition from harassment and intimidation through to physical targeting of communities places of worship and prominent Jewish Australians."

Law enforcement response to antisemitism
Burgess stated that ASIO has been dealing with a number of serious antisemitic incidents since October last year in particular. However, he praised the "strong law enforcement responses," saying the police "have done exceptionally well." He added that the police response "helps drive a signal into society that this behavior is unaccepted [sic] but that there's always a lag between events and response."

In response to criticism over delays in arrests and responses to antisemitic incidents, Burgess said, "Investigations do take time, and it's not because we're sitting back admiring the problem, but actually getting a grip of the problem does take time."

He also said it "defies logic that people can hold Jewish Australians to account for the actions of the Israeli state" and that "some people have those very strong views that might drive a small number to think that violence is acceptable."

Burgess did, however, dismiss the possibility that there is one single mastermind behind Australia's antisemitism or that the incidents are connected.

Thirty-nine Australian universities adopted an antisemitism definition to coordinate their approach to anti-Jewish behavior, the academic representative body Universities Australia said on Thursday.

The definition – closely aligned with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition – describes antisemitism as discrimination or harassment that “impedes Jews’ ability to participate as equals in educational, political, religious, cultural, economic or social life.”

“It includes hate speech, epithets, caricatures, stereotypes, tropes, Holocaust denial, and antisemitic symbols,” reads the definition. “Targeting Jews based on their Jewish identities alone is discriminatory and antisemitic.”

While criticism of the Israeli government and state was not deemed as antisemitic, the definition contends that such criticism can be antisemitic when it is grounded in classical anti-Jewish tropes, calls for the elimination of the country or all Jews, or to hold Jews accountable for Israel’s actions.

“All peoples, including Jews, have the right to self-determination. For most, but not all Jewish Australians, Zionism is a core part of their Jewish identity,” reads the definition. “Substituting the word ‘Zionist’ for ‘Jew’ does not eliminate the possibility of speech being antisemitic.”

Decision had come 'too late'
Shadow Education Minister and Liberal Party Senator Sarah Henderson welcomed the move on Wednesday, during an address at the Address to 2025 Universities Australia Solutions Summit – but argued that the decision came too late.

“So much damage has been done,” said Henderson, adding that if elected, her party would require all universities to adopt the “more robust” IHRA definition.

Australian Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for Higher Education Senator Mehreen Faruqi attacked the universities’ decision on Sunday as an attempt to restrict criticism of Israel.

“Shamefully, universities have betrayed their students, their staff, and their reputation by shutting down free speech and criticism of Israel. They are weaponizing antisemitism to sanitize campuses of anyone who speaks up for Palestinian human rights or against Israel’s genocide and occupation,” Faruqi said in a statement. “By adopting a definition of antisemitism that threatens academic freedom, silences Palestinian voices, and prevents legitimate criticism of Israel, they have failed their staff, students, and the very mission of higher education.”

The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils on Thursday also expressed concern about the definition’s potential to limit legitimate criticism of Israel, with AFIC president Dr. Rateb Jneid saying in a statement that “If universities are to remain spaces where complex global issues can be navigated safely and constructively, they must reject such restrictive definitions.”

Amnesty International also condemned the definition on Thursday.

“This dangerous definition will be used to silence students and staff alike, suppress protest, and shut down criticism of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the unlawful brutal and unlawful military occupation as well as apartheid that we determined to be a crime against humanity,” said Amnesty International Australia’s Occupied Palestinian Territory Spokesperson Mohamed Duar.

A second Sydney nurse who allegedly appeared in a video that made threats towards Israeli patients has been charged by police.

Authorities say there is "no evidence" the pair actually harmed patients.
Mr Nadir was charged on Wednesday with using a carriage service to threaten, menace or harass, and with possessing a prohibited drug.

Carriage services refer to modern communication systems such as phones and the internet.
Ms Lebdeh was charged last week with three offences: threatening violence to a group, using a carriage service to threaten to kill, and using a carriage service to harass or cause offence.
Neither person has entered a plea to the charges, but Mr Nadir apologised last month through his lawyer.

Australian Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for Higher Education Senator Mehreen Faruqi attacked the universities’ decision on Sunday as an attempt to restrict criticism of Israel.