Envoy rejects anti-Semitism plan's free speech concerns

Concerns that a sweeping plan to tackle anti-Semitism will stifle legitimate criticisms about Israel have been dismissed by the government-appointed envoy who authored the report.

Recommendations in a report from Australia's Special Envoy to Combat Anti-Semitism Jillian Segal are being considered by the federal government as it examines ways to combat a surge in discrimination against Jewish Australians.

But contention has emerged over the report's recommendation to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism.

Some detractors - including the original author of the definition Kenneth Stern - argue it conflates anti-Semitism with criticism of Israel and Zionism.

Jewish Council of Australia executive officer Max Kaiser labelled the report a "blueprint for silencing dissent", and his organisation said the emphasis on surveillance, censorship and punitive control over funding were "straight out of Trump's authoritarian playbook".

Ms Segal said those criticisms misunderstood the definition.

"The train has moved on, if I might put it that way, and Kenneth Stern has been left behind," she told ABC Radio National on Friday.

"The definition in its own terms clearly says if Israel is criticised, that's absolutely fine, and indeed so many Israelis are criticising the policies of their own government. But if you are calling for the elimination of the state of Israel, then that is anti-Semitic."

Ms Segal said the Jewish Council of Australia was a very small group that did not represent Jewish Australians.

Other Jewish groups, including the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, called for the plan to be adopted in full.

While it suggests embedding Holocaust education into school curricula and strengthening legislation against hateful conduct, the report also recommends terminating or withholding funds from universities, broadcasters and cultural institutions that fail to address anti-Semitism.

It also suggests deporting and cancelling the visas of immigrants who have been involved in discrimination against Jewish people.

Ms Segal said universities needed to ensure campuses were safe spaces for all people, including Jews.

"There are hotspots where we have some entrenched, I would say anti-Semitism, but I would say hatred, and we need to tackle those areas specifically, like universities," she said.

National Union of Students president Ashlyn Horton questioned the way widespread student encampment protests were portrayed.

"Conflating actual anti-Semitism with criticism of Israel is a massive, massive concern," she told AAP.

"Most student activists who have been part of the Palestine movement have never actually been anti-Semitic ... it is just students who are concerned about the genocide in Gaza and their universities' involvement in weapons manufacturing.

"Spinning it in this way of 'the encampments were anti-Semitic, we need to crack down on all freedom of speech now' is absolutely the wrong approach."

While there were some cases of anti-Semitic individuals, Ms Horton said student unions were often the first to crack down.

First Nations, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities would be disproportionately harmed by the plan, the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network warned.

Walkley-award winning journalist Jan Fran said Israel had killed nearly 200 people in Gaza since Tuesday, along with ordering Palestinians into what experts labelled an "internment camp".

"If the anti-Semitism envoy's plan stifles criticism of Israel for these actions, particularly at public broadcasters and in media organisations broadly, then we are headed down a very dark path," she told AAP.

Ms Segal's report found threats, vandalism and physical violence against Jewish Australians tripled between October 2023 and September 2024.

She and other envoys around the world had been working with social media platforms to stamp out hate, she said, adding that artificial intelligence was a potential answer to eliminate hate from the platforms without impinging on free speech.

Universities Australia committed to considering the report's recommendations.