Policy Assessment, Progress Center for Policies
Introduction:
Analyses concur that the attack targeting a Jewish celebration in Sydney on 14 December 2025 revealed a set of dynamics that ran counter to Israel’s traditional discourse in dealing with such incidents. It exposed growing difficulty in marketing the familiar Israeli narrative rooted in historical victimhood and suffering from “antisemitism.” How can this shift be identified, and what are its underlying causes?
Key Findings:
• Academic sources observed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu politically invested in the incident by linking it to protests opposing the war on Gaza and attempting to portray these movements as a security threat to Jews in the West.
• According to these sources, this linkage came at a time when Australia had taken official positions inconsistent with Israeli policies, including recognition of the State of Palestine and permitting large demonstrations in support of Gaza, making Australia a direct target of Israeli criticism.
• Observers note that the “antisemitism” label has lost momentum in Israeli government discourse, with a declining level of success in promoting it within Western societies.
• They further point out that Western media outlets—previously inclined, across political orientations, to readily condemn “antisemitism” whenever Jews or people of Jewish origin were attacked—did not follow this pattern, instead describing the attack as terrorism and reporting it without adopting Israel’s framing of “antisemitism.”
• Analysts stated that several Western capitals were displeased by Israel’s linkage of the Sydney attack to Australia’s recognition of the Palestinian state, viewing it as an attempt to criticize all Western countries that have recently recognized Palestine.
• Some analyses focused on reports suggesting Israeli preparations to respond to the Sydney attack, interpreting this as interference in Australian affairs, which fall exclusively under Australia’s sovereign responsibility to protect its citizens, including Jewish citizens.
• Western media found no basis to link the Sydney attack to the Palestinian cause or the war in Gaza, nor did official positions point to any Palestinian responsibility, even indirectly.
• Diplomats consider that the Sydney attack did not diminish levels of official or popular support for the Palestinian cause, nor did it increase solidarity with Israel—an unprecedented indication of a shift in Western public opinion and governmental mood regarding the Palestinian issue.
• Research sources believe that during the “Al-Aqsa Flood” war, Israel lost its monopoly over the status of victimhood, and that condemnations contained in neutral UN and human rights reports undermined the fear of annihilation rooted in Holocaust memory.
• Some scholarly references cite Jewish researchers expressing frustration at the distortion of Holocaust memory—grounded in the crime of antisemitism—resulting from Israel’s insertion of “antisemitism” into every politically motivated reaction affecting Jews worldwide, whether they support or are perceived to support Israeli actions against Palestinians.
• Researchers note that the ambiguity surrounding the Sydney attack, the absence of a statement clarifying its objectives, and the lack of any link between the perpetrators and the Palestinian cause place the act in the category of isolated terrorism, which Israel finds difficult to exploit politically.
• They add that the presence of ISIS flags during investigations does not reveal a Palestinian motive, particularly given the absence of any historical pattern linking ISIS or similar groups to operations in support of the Palestinian cause.
• Monitoring sources indicated that the phenomenon of Ahmed Al-Ahmad, an Australian Muslim citizen of Idlib-origin Syrian background who intervened against one of the attackers, produced counterproductive effects for Israel’s position and for populist, anti-immigration currents in Australia and beyond.
• These sources added that this phenomenon is not isolated: Muslims have previously been victims of terrorist attacks in Europe (not to mention Muslim countries), and numerous cases have emerged of Muslims confronting terrorists in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and elsewhere.
• Observers in Australia highlighted the swift action by the Australian government, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (a left-wing Labor government in power since May 2022), to spotlight Ahmed Al-Ahmad, describe him as a “hero,” and for Albanese to visit him in hospital—moves seen as a response to right-wing opposition campaigns against the government.
• Observers also noted that European media attention to the Muslim citizen’s intervention made him the central story and a dominant “trend,” overshadowing aspects of the event that Israel might otherwise have sought to exploit to the fullest extent.
Conclusion:
• Western reactions to the Sydney attack revealed a growing immunity to accusations of antisemitism previously used against Western countries in which attacks against Jews occur.
• The event demonstrated the declining effectiveness of the “antisemitism” charge as a tool of Israeli foreign policy and as a means of pressuring Western positions critical of Israel.
• The attack did not affect Western popular or official support for Palestine, nor was it linked to the war in Gaza.
• Investigations did not reveal any connection between Palestine, Palestinians, or the Palestinian cause and the attackers’ motives.
• Even if investigations confirm the attackers’ allegiance to ISIS, that organization and similar groups lack a record of linking their operations specifically to the Palestinian cause, despite occasional references in their rhetoric.
• The intervention by an Australian Muslim citizen of Syrian origin effectively undermined Israel’s attempt to capitalize on the Sydney attacks, as he became the dominant narrative of the event.
• This “Muslim citizen” phenomenon is not isolated, with prior instances of Muslims both falling victim to terrorism and actively confronting terrorists across Europe.
• Observers in Australia noted the left-wing Albanese government’s rapid elevation of the “Muslim hero” narrative as a counter to right-wing opposition campaigns.
• Israel’s attempt to link the incident to Australia’s recognition of the Palestinian state angered other Western countries that had also recognized Palestine, which viewed themselves as being targeted.
• Scholarly references cite Jewish researchers’ discontent with the distortion of Holocaust memory caused by Israel’s routine invocation of antisemitism in response to politically motivated incidents involving Jews worldwide.
• It is believed that during the “Al-Aqsa Flood” war, Israel lost its exclusive claim to victimhood, and that condemnations documented in UN reports undermined the deeply rooted fear of annihilation derived from Holocaust memory.
