AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw Antisemitism Statement

There is no doubt there is an escalation of antisemitism in Australia.

We know this is changing the movements and behaviour of a community that is in fear.

When a community feels they need to self-segregate or hide to stay safe, this has a greater impact on social cohesion and crime in general.

Antisemitism is a disease in our community, and it needs to be aggressively attacked because history shows what happens when action is not taken against those who fuel fear and terrorise others.

I know many people feel they want more action to go with words. Today, I will outline what the AFP has done and what is being considered.

The AFP has established Special Operation Avalite to target high-harm antisemitism. AFP-led Operation Ardvarna is targeting the display of prohibited symbols - both operations have made arrests and more are expected soon.

Special Operation Avalite has received 166 reports of crime since it was established in December last year. Of those reports, many are duplicates, some are already investigation by our state counterparts and some don't meet the threshold of a crime.

These are being triaged for the AFP to take high-impact action against offenders, and currently Special Operation Avalite is investigating 15 serious allegations.

All lines of inquiry are open to the investigations - including what anonymising technology, such as dedicated encrypted communication devices, have been used to commit these crimes.

We are looking into whether overseas actors or individuals have paid local criminals in Australia to carry out some of these crimes in our suburbs.

We are looking at if - or how - they have been paid, for example in cryptocurrency, which can take longer to identify.

We are looking into whether any young people are involved in carrying out some of these crimes, and if they have been radicalised online and encouraged to commit antisemitic acts.

Regardless, it all points to the same motivation: demonising and intimidating the Jewish community.

Intelligence is not the same as evidence. We are building evidence, and I want to reiterate, more charges are expected soon by the AFP.

We are regularly talking to our Five Eyes and trusted international partners about these issues and the AFP stands ready to provide capability to our state and territory police, who I know are all taking these matters seriously.

Tomorrow, I am meeting with the dedicated State Police Commissioners across the country. I will raise whether there are other tactics or matters we can consider.