Weaponising outrage: The hidden hands behind Australia's antisemitic attacks

As fabricated terror plots unravel, questions mount about who’s truly behind Australia’s wave of antisemitic attacks and why, writes David McIlveen.

I EXPRESSED some scepticism about the motives behind the recent synagogue attack in Melbourne, not on a hunch, but based on my (tentative) understanding of the circumstances (if true and verifiable) surrounding other events. In particular, the most serious of all: the Dural caravan incident, which you’re likely aware of.

When the Dural caravan incident came to light (the story broke in January this year), it was reported in the press and described by the NSW Premier as an ‘antisemitic terror plot’. See the headlines at the time.

Hysteria and outrage were whipped up, the Premier made commitments and bills were rushed through Parliament.

Turns out it was fabricated and was instead a fake terror plot, staged by paid criminals to convey a potential antisemitic attack. It was a criminal con job. (The caravan was loaded with old, expired mining explosives and very obviously placed notes.)

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Bizarre and disturbing, of course.

The story has been extensively covered now, but here is the most direct source on the matter, a statement from the Australian Federal Police’s deputy commissioner (National Security), Krissy Barrett:

‘Today (10 March, 2025), I can reveal that 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.’

For your interest, the whole debacle — including the Premier’s claim it was a terrorist attack, well ahead of the conclusion of the police investigation and possibly with prior knowledge that it wasn’t — is now the subject of a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry.

The inquiry is a story in itself, as you’ll see.

This has become a theme, with other supposedly “antisemitic” attacks being linked to paid criminals, not (at least proximately) ideologically motivated extremists and bigots.

The discovery of the caravan was preceded by months of other seemingly “antisemitic” attacks in Sydney.

During the current Parliamentary Inquiry, NSW Police deputy commissioner David Hudson told the NSW State Parliament that:

“We believe all of those have the same common [criminal] source.”

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From a May Four Corners investigation by the ABC, the AFP deputy commissioner alleged a “suspected criminal” overseas was behind these crimes:

“We allege this person paid local criminals to carry out antisemitic graffiti and vandalism for weeks whilst planning the caravan plot.”

It’s transpiring in court that the Newtown (Sydney) synagogue arson attack in January this year was also apparently motivated by money, according to prosecutors. The paid criminal, apparently, was explicitly given instructions to participate in the arson in exchange for payment, received via a shady chain of hidden characters.

On that more recent incident down in Melbourne, it’s already coming to light that it was likely the work of paid criminals, too. Investigations have identified criminals for hire, with no known political or ideological affiliations, as likely suspects responsible for starting the fire at the door of the Adass synagogue.

Here’s the AFP deputy commissioner again, who told a press conference on Wednesday:

“Our investigation [into the Adass synagogue attack] is not limited to Australia. It involves exploring criminals offshore. And we suspect these criminals worked with criminals in Victoria to carry out the arson attack.”

Of course, it remains to be seen what the motives of those orchestrating these crimes actually are, but the involvement of paid criminals in these attacks is almost incontrovertible at this point, or at the very least, shouldn’t be a controversial thing to point out.

So, the Dural caravan incident and others are at least conceivably (bizarrely) the work of paid, petty criminals, not — at least directly — someone acting out of, or motivated by, racism or political extremism.

Weaponising antisemitism

A campaign by right-wing Liberals to link Muslims with fascism and anti-genocide demonstrations to antisemitism is on shaky ground.

Pointing this out is particularly hard to do in the face of considerable media and public outrage, and strong (and fully justified) condemnation of the perpetrator, regardless of motive. Before, I’d simply condemn it as much as anyone else, and blame racism and bigotry. However, it appears we need to be more cautious.

We now have to at least contemplate the possibility that hostile actors, potentially foreign, are paying local criminals to carry out acts deliberately meant to stoke fear, division and influence public opinion and political decisions (law-making). We know that adversaries, whether state or non-state actors, can exploit fear to undermine Australia’s social cohesion and democratic resilience. This isn’t anything new.

If the intent was to sow discord, distrust and division, it has worked superbly. Look at the public discussion and the insinuations that I and others might be racist (“antisemitic”) for raising the prospect that foreign actors may be involved, and that paid criminals certainly were involved, despite the “evidence of our eyes and ears”.

And what a perfect opportunity to sow division: exploit a highly politically charged environment, heightened with anxiety over international conflicts, to stage some exceptionally provocative and blatantly “racist” attacks in the community.

I’m not saying this is the case. Racism and bigotry in all their forms are a scourge, and doubtless alive and well in Australia. However, the involvement of foreign actors is a plausible scenario that now needs to be contemplated and ruled out before we can make any firm conclusions, and before we can properly and adequately address the underlying causes of the crimes and the real threat they pose.

The truth of the matter is consequential. I say this because, apart from the immediate impacts, there appears to be some pressure or deliberate effort to curtail certain civil liberties in Australia (relating to free speech, freedom of association and political expression) in some very underhanded and disingenuous ways, using these recent attacks (and the conflict in the Middle East more broadly) as a pretext (by, as always, opportunistic, ignorant, unscrupulous and unremarkable Australian politicians).

Given all we’re witnessing, I’m learning you can’t be too sceptical. However, I’m confident the truth will out eventually. Transparency is key.

David McIlveen studied science and environmental engineering at the University of Queensland and now works as an environmental consultant in Brisbane.