The announcement today that the Iranian regime was responsible for the attacks on Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney and the Adass Synagogue in Melbourne is chilling and deeply concerning.
 
It is difficult to overstate the significance of this unprecedented news.
 
These incidents were nothing less than an attack on Australia by a foreign state, primarily targeting the Jewish community and designed to unravel our social cohesion by legitimising and normalising attacks on the Jewish community.
 
The Director-General of ASIO has also stated that Iran was likely pulling the strings in relation to other local antisemitic attacks and we look forward to learning more about the full extent of Iran’s malign activities. While it may come out that not every attack was perpetrated by Iran, there is no question that Iran fanned the flames of hatred and emboldened domestic antisemites to attack the Jewish community. 
 
Those who sought to downplay the threat against the Jewish community or dismiss the campaign of terror targeting our community as a criminal con-job or hoax owe the Jewish community an apology.
 
Our community firstly had to endure a summer of terror and then had salt rubbed in our collective wound through gaslighting and equivocation from some quarters about the extent of the threat. These were serious antisemitic attacks on the Jewish community and there should be no further equivocation.
 
The Government has taken the right and appropriate steps in proscribing the IRGC and expelling Iranian diplomats based in Australia. Once the IRGC has been formally proscribed, the Government must then ensure that there is no tolerance on our streets or in the community for veneration or support of the IRGC or its leaders.
 
The Iranian-Australian community in Australia – most of whom despise the despotic Iranian regime and fled from its tyrannical reach – should not be held responsible for the acts of the regime.
 
We thank ASIO for the outstanding work they have undertaken in progressing this investigation and look forward to being briefed and continuing to work closely with law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety and security of our community.