Pro-Israel union members say the organization violated its own rules in removing Amy Leserman, an outspoken Zionist activist, from its House of Representatives
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Students in a classroom
Add JewishInsider on GoogleSome pro-Israel members of the United Teachers Los Angeles House of Representatives are condemning the union for bypassing its own policies to expel a Jewish teacher and Zionist activist.
During a June 3 meeting held on Zoom, the union’s House of Representatives — the highest voting body in the union — voted to expel Amy Leserman, who retired as a Los Angeles public school teacher last year and now works at a local Jewish day school.
Leserman chairs JewTLA, a group that seeks to help Los Angeles students, teachers and families combat classroom antisemitism through legal filings and complaints. However, she remains a polarizing figure even among some pro-Israel members of the community, who say she has personally and publicly targeted individuals she considers antisemitic and pushed union members to resign.
Still, some of those same members argue her removal violated the constitution, alleging it stemmed solely from Leserman’s personal beliefs.
“Amy has done many things in her private time against those she perceives as antisemitic and anti-Israel. She’s done many things that I don’t agree with. She’s gone after people personally, holding them accountable for their antisemitic beliefs. However, in the House of Representatives, she was simply an observer. She was allowed to be there. She never opened up her mouth, she did nothing,” Scott Mandel, a Los Angeles Unified School District teacher for 41 years who has been on UTLA’s board of directors for almost two decades, told Jewish Insider.
“When the antisemites saw she was there, they demanded she be kicked out because of actions she took,” continued Mandel. “However, she broke no rules according to our constitution.”
Mandel, who attended the meeting, said he spoke up at the time, asserting that “if you want to start judging people because of actions in their personal life, you need to make new rules. Put that in the constitution.”
“If someone is taken out of a meeting because of what they’ve done on their own, you have to make new rules — but this is wrong. Amy is seen as very pro-Israel, so the antisemite coalition — which is big — said out with the rules and demanded her gone. For the first time in my 18 years, I saw somebody expelled for their personal beliefs.”
UTLA, the labor union of more than 35,000 public school educators in LA, did not respond to a request for comment from JI.
Leserman, who was a UTLA member for more than 20 years, also asserts the meeting suddenly became “an anti-Israel tirade” with participants “saying they felt threatened by my presence, they couldn’t have me there and that I was a danger to them by being in the meeting.”
She said “the president of the union let this go on for 30 to 40 minutes. [Then] they voted to expel me.”
“There are people in the union that really resent [my involvement with JewTLA]. I don’t mind them resenting that,” said Leserman, who told JI that the rise of antisemitism in district public schools following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and ensuing war in Gaza did not factor into her decision to retire. She did not elaborate on what led to that decision.
The incident received condemnation from other Jewish union members — who also see Leserman as a controversial figure — as well as the regional chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, which called reports of the expulsion “deeply troubling.”
A pro-Israel source familiar with the union told JI the expulsion followed months of internal tension.
“The problem with Amy, and why she became toxic within UTLA is that when she retired she was explaining to people how to quit the union,” said the source. “She wound up getting entangled with Right to Work people, whether intentional or not. To the union as a whole, both pro-Israel and anti-Israel unionists, she became kind of toxic because of her association with Right to Work people. To what extent that played a role in what happened with the House of Representatives, it’s not clear. But it’s not black and white or that this came out of the blue.”
The source added: “She’s managed to get herself portrayed as the victim here. Everything the House of Representatives did is wrong, but the history [is important]. It’s not like she walked in as a longtime supporter of Israel and got smacked down. The anonymosity was there because of months and months of trying to get people to quit the union.”
“I think if people quit the union it just increases the strength of the Israel and Jew haters,” the source added.
Gregg Solkovits, a former UTLA officer and a retired teacher who has been a member of the union for 38 years, asserted that “without a doubt, it was wrong for the union to expel her.”
“What we have is intolerance from a radical minority of the union who espouses anti-Zionist rhetoric,” Solkovits, who was not on the call, told JI. “The union just elected an officer who is blatantly anti-Israel, and I say antisemitic. It’s wrong on a moral level and I think on a legal level [to expel her]. I don’t think UTLA followed its own procedures on this. It’s unfortunate that union leadership, from the president on down, chose not to say a word when it’s wrong.”
Mandel and Leserman both pointed to a pervasive anti-Israel obsession within the union.
“This is a group that for the last two years has voted every anti-resolution possible,” said Mandel. “They’ve gotten to the point where they voted that if any politician has ever voted for arms for Israel, UTLA cannot support them. Even if you have a politician who has been the most pro-education, pro-labor person, but one time in their career voted for arms for Israel, UTLA will no longer endorse them. That’s how ridiculous they’ve gotten. They put their personal feelings ahead of what’s good for the union.”
Leserman said, “The union does not currently have a teachers contract, the district hasn’t signed the one that they agreed on. That should have been the focus of the meeting. Instead, six out of 10 of the items on the schedule had to do with Israel and how bad Israel is. They need to deal with the problems on their doorstep — they’re about to have 6,000 teachers laid off. None of that was discussed.”
Los Angeles Unified School District, which serves more than 560,000 students across Los Angeles County, has been accused of failing to address antisemitism — including within teachers’ unions. The district was named in a February lawsuit that highlighted several complaints from Jewish parents and children in districts across California.
The International Federation of Social Workers voted against a measure that sought to remove Israel’s leading social work organization from the body
Ami Vitale/Getty Images
A nurse hugs one of her patients during a pre-natal checkup at the kibbutz Metzer February 21, 2003 in northern Israel.
An effort to expel Israel from the leading global organization for social workers failed on Wednesday in a closed-door Zoom meeting. A second vote, on suspending Israel, also failed.
The International Federation of Social Workers, which counts social work organizations from 141 countries as members, was considering the measure against Israel after some European members complained that Israeli social workers had served in combat roles during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. IFSW formally censured Israel last year.
Jewish social workers in the U.S. and Canada mounted a brief advocacy campaign against the measure, authoring a petition signed by 12,000 people urging the U.S.-based National Association of Social Workers and the Canadian Association of Social Workers to vote against the measure. NASW released a public statement a day before the vote, saying that the expulsion effort violates “the profession’s core values of unity, dialogue and compassion.”
Inbal Hermoni, the chair of the Israeli Union of Social Workers, said last week that kicking Israel out of the IFSW — whose members also include Russia, China and Iran — would not advance peace in the Middle East.
The leadership of the IFSW did not publicly comment on the results of Wednesday’s vote. 34 countries voted against expulsion, with 16 voting in favor. A majority of voting members supported suspending Israel — 27 voted to suspend Israel, and 23 voted against it — but the measure would have needed 75% of votes to pass.
NASW cheered the vote in a statement on Wednesday.
“Our position reflects our belief that professional engagement, ethical accountability and sustained dialogue are more effective than expulsion in advancing peace, justice and human rights,” NASW said.
Guila Franklin Siegel, the chief operating officer at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, called the vote “a victory for inclusion over discrimination.”
“While it is disappointing that the IFSW even considered such exclusionary motions, we are hopeful that this closes the door on any effort to isolate Israeli social workers initiated by international bodies that should be supporting and lifting them,” said Siegel, who had been working behind the scenes with Jewish social workers to rally opposition to the measure.
HILARY WARDHAUGH/AFP via Getty Images
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during a press conference in Canberra on August 11, 2025.
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on Australia’s expulsion of Iran’s top diplomat over evidence of Tehran’s involvement in attacks on Jewish institutions in the country, and have the scoop on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plans to sign into law legislation requiring schools in the state to designate anti-discrimination coordinators. We report on Mahmoud Khalil and Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s upcoming appearances at the University of Michigan, and cover the House Education and the Workforce Committee’s investigations of allegations of antisemitism at three medical schools. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Katharina von Schnurbein and Ken Martin.
What We’re Watching
- The Treasury Department is lifting its remaining U.S. sanctions on Syria today, two months after an order from President Donald Trump.
- The Democratic National Committee’s Resolutions Committee is set to vote today on two Israel-related resolutions at the DNC summer meeting in Minneapolis. One resolution, proposed by a Gen Z DNC member from Florida, calls for an arms embargo on the Jewish state, and the other — backed by DNC Chair Ken Martin — calls for a ceasefire, an influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza and a two-state solution.
- New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is slated to sign into law legislation mandating that state schools designate anti-discrimination coordinators to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. More below.
- Iranian officials are in Geneva today to meet with U.K., French and German officials for nuclear talks.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Tuesday that Iranian Ambassador to Australia Ahmad Sadeghi, along with three other Iranian diplomats, is being expelled from the country over findings from Australia’s security service that Iran was behind multiple antisemitic attacks in the country — the first time Canberra has expelled a foreign ambassador since World War II.
Albanese, speaking at a press conference alongside the country’s top intelligence official, foreign minister and home affairs minister, called the plots “extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil.”
The expulsion of the Iranian diplomats comes shortly after the arrests of two individuals in connection with a December 2024 Melbourne synagogue attack, in which a synagogue was firebombed while nearly two dozen people were inside. The arson at Sydney’s Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, which took place in October 2024, caused $1 million in damage to the kosher restaurant.
Sadeghi’s expulsion comes amid an explosion of antisemitism down under in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and Israel’s ensuing war against the terror group in Gaza. More recently, tensions between Canberra and Jerusalem have been strained following Australia’s revocation of visas for several Israeli officials and activists and its plans, announced earlier this month, to recognize a Palestinian state.
Iran and its proxies have an extensive history of plotting attacks against Jewish, Israeli and diplomatic targets abroad, dating back decades. Tehran and its Hezbollah proxy were determined by Argentine courts to be behind the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires as well as the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in the city, which collectively killed 114 people and injured hundreds. More recently, Iran was discovered in 2011 to be plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington.
Tehran has also been discovered to be behind attacks and plots across Europe and Asia, though few countries have taken significant steps to address the Islamic Republic’s malign behavior. Israel has since last April, when Iran launched its first wave of ballistic missile attacks against the Jewish state, pushed for countries to designate the IRGC as a terrorist group.
Capitol Hill has backed such efforts, with more than 130 House legislators signing onto a letter in 2023 calling on the EU to issue such a designation.
mea culpa
Netanyahu: IDF strike on Gaza hospital a ‘tragic mishap’
An Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital yesterday that reportedly killed 20 people, including four journalists, was a “tragic mishap,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, not long after President Donald Trump criticized the attack, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Probe underway: “Israel deeply regrets the tragic mishap that occurred today at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza. Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff and all civilians,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. “The military authorities are conducting a thorough investigation. Our war is with Hamas terrorists. Our just goals are defeating Hamas and bringing our hostages home.” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he is “not happy” about Israel’s strike on the Nasser Hospital, in the southern Gaza Strip.
Inside Israel: IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said in remarks during a visit to a Haifa naval base on Sunday that the Israeli army has met its objectives in its war with Hamas in Gaza, “including deeply damaging Hamas,” and “as a result of the military pressure, we created the conditions for the release of the hostages.” Read more from JI’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik here.
new york minute
Israeli Foreign Minister Sa’ar meets with American Jewish leaders in New York
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met on Monday with American Jewish leaders in New York, speaking with the group at a moment when tensions between Diaspora Jews and Israel’s leaders over the conduct of the war in Gaza seem to be growing, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. The meeting was organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and most of its members — representing the Reform, Orthodox and Conservative movements, as well as major national organizations including the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federations of North America — were present in the room.
Mixed readouts: “We spoke about the war, the plight of the hostages, and the challenges facing Israel, with a clear focus on strengthening U.S.-Israel relations,” Conference of Presidents CEO William Daroff told JI about the “positive and wide-ranging” 90-minute meeting. “The exchange underscored our unity, our partnership with Israel and our shared commitment to the Jewish future.” But two attendees, who requested anonymity, described the meeting as antagonistic, saying Sa’ar took an argumentative tone against Jewish leaders in America who have raised concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
phone a friend
Bernie Sanders campaigns with Israel critics running for Senate
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is slated to appear with Graham Platner, a Democrat running to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), at a rally in Portland, Maine, on Labor Day, as the progressive leader from Vermont steps up his efforts to boost left-wing candidates who have been outspoken in their criticism of Israel and its ongoing war in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Michigan to Maine: Platner, who launched his campaign last week, has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and backed Sanders’ recent resolutions to block arms sales to Israel. The Portland event on Sept. 1, the next stop on Sanders’ nationwide “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, follows a rally in Michigan on Saturday at which the senator sought to boost Abdul El-Sayed, a staunch critic of Israel who is vying to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) in a crowded primary next year.
SCOOP
Hochul to sign Title VI legislation to counter rising campus antisemitism
Responding to heightened campus antisemitism, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will sign legislation on Tuesday afternoon that requires all colleges in the state to designate anti-discrimination coordinators to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, her office confirmed to Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel. The bill passed the Legislature unanimously in June.
‘Top priority’: “By placing Title VI coordinators on all college campuses, New York is combating antisemitism and all forms of discrimination head-on,” Hochul, a Democrat, told JI. “No one should fear for their safety while trying to get an education. It’s my top priority to ensure every New York student feels safe at school, and I will continue to take action against campus discrimination and use every tool at my disposal to eliminate hate and bias from our school communities.”
in the hot seat
House Education Committee to investigate antisemitism at UCSF, UCLA, Illinois medical schools
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce will investigate three medical schools over their “failures to address antisemitism,” Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), the chair of the committee, announced on Monday. The three schools targeted in the probe are the University of Illinois College of Medicine (UICOM), University of California, San Francisco and University of California, Los Angeles Geffen School of Medicine, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
‘Hostility and fear’: The investigations come as medical schools and the medical profession have faced increasing scrutiny over rising antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. “The Committee has become aware that Jewish students, faculty, and patients have been experiencing hostility and fear at the university, and it has not been demonstrated that the university has meaningfully responded to address and mitigate this problem,” Walberg wrote to each institution, followed by a list detailing alleged incidents of antisemitism.
back to school
Mahmoud Khalil, Rep. Rashida Tlaib slated to headline August events at University of Michigan
Days after the University of Michigan kicks off the new school year this week, the campus is slated to host two anti-Israel speakers — former Columbia University protest leader Mahmoud Khalil and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), one of the most outspoken critics of Israel in Congress, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Campus calendar: On Wednesday afternoon, Tlaib is scheduled to speak at an on-campus press conference titled “United Against Genocide, United Against Repression” hosted by The People’s Coalition Michigan. Later that evening, the campus chapter of Students Organize for Syria is scheduled to host Khalil, who was released in June from the immigration detention center where he had been held for three months as the Trump administration sought to have him deported. The events come days before thousands of pro-Palestinian activists are set to gather in Detroit, beginning Aug. 29, for the second annual People’s Conference for Palestine, under the slogan “Gaza is the Compass.”Read the full story here.
Worthy Reads
Israel, Alone: The New York Times’ Tom Friedman reflects on Israel’s increasingly isolated global status amid the continuation of its war in Gaza and its blunders on the battlefield. “[The Israeli government] is destroying Israel’s standing in the world, it is killing Gazan civilians with seemingly no regard for innocent human life, and it is tearing apart Israeli society and world Jewry, between those Jews who want to still stand with Israel no matter what and those who can no longer tolerate, explain or justify where this Israeli government is taking the Jewish state and now want to distance themselves from it. … So why is the world ganging up only on Israel now? Because it holds Israel to a higher standard than Hamas, because Israel has always held itself to a higher standard. And because the world can tell the difference now between a war being waged for the survival of the Jewish state and a war being waged for the political survival of its prime minister.” [NYTimes]
The Mamdani Effect: In The Washington Post, Ramesh Ponnuru considers the liabilities New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani brings to the Democratic Party as he looks increasingly likely to win the November general election. “This debate ignores what might be the biggest danger that Mamdani poses to the Democratic Party. That danger is not that his performance as mayor, assuming his polling lead holds, will turn off swing voters nationally (although it might). It’s that he will excite Democratic activists in all the wrong ways. His example will encourage them to do what a lot of them already want to do: get louder and lefter. Committed partisans are always tempted to find evidence, however dubious, that being more hard-line is the path to political victory. It happens to people of all political descriptions. In recent years, though, Democrats have been especially prone to political misjudgments of this kind.” [WashPost]
The New Anti-Zionism: In The Jerusalem Post, Betsy Berns Korn and Eric Mandel raise concerns about a new effort to push “Anti-Palestinian Racism,” as the effort, which originated in Canada, gets a foothold in the U.S. “If left unchallenged, APR will reshape public discourse, empower hostile NGOs, and normalize antisemitism in schools, governments, and even corporations. Policymakers must act now. Congress, state legislatures, and school boards should ensure anti-racism curricula are not hijacked to advance anti-Israel ideology. Universities should adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism and resist attempts to elevate APR. Civil society must demand equal standards, where Palestinians are held accountable for terror and incitement just as Israelis are for policy decisions. The stakes could not be higher. Anti-Zionism has always adapted to survive, and APR is its newest disguise.” [JPost]
Word on the Street
The State Department is backing U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner amid a diplomatic row with Paris following the weekend publication of a Wall Street Journal op-ed in which Kushner slammed the country for its failure to address antisemitism; France’s trade minister said in response to Kushner’s criticism that Paris “need take no lessons whatsoever” from the U.S. regarding antisemitism…
More than 75 Jewish organizations around the world signed on to a letter spearheaded by the American Jewish Committee voicing “unequivocal support” for Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission coordinator on combating antisemitism, amid calls for her dismissal by EU parliament members over her support for Israel, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…
The Associated Press looks at internal dissent and fundraising challenges facing the Democratic National Committee and its chair, Ken Martin, amid the group’s summer gathering in Minneapolis, which kicked off on Monday…
In the Minnesota Star Tribune, Sarah Clarke, the wife of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, raises concerns about a planned protest outside the couple’s home on Thursday; in the op-ed, Clarke slams the “threats, harassment and even vandalism that my family endures when people feel entitled to target our family and home for perceived political gain”…
Police in Philadelphia are investigating the vandalism of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History early Friday morning, in which red paint was sprayed on the side of the building over the words “the Weitzman stands with Israel,” which appeared under an Israeli flag…
The George Mason University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, which had been dormant since it was suspended in the aftermath of the arrests of several chapter leaders, posted a video ahead of the start of the fall semester in which a masked speaker pledged that “the spirit of resistance will not be quenched until we see full liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea”…
The Irish rap group Kneecap canceled the U.S. stops on its upcoming tour, citing the London court appearance of one of its members on terrorism charges as a scheduling conflict; Kneecap member Liam O’Hanna is facing the charges following his display of a Hezbollah flag at a November 2024 show…
Israel announced plans for a “phased reduction” in troops in southern Lebanon as part of an agreement in which Beirut will force the disarmament of Hezbollah…
Israel’s Foreign Ministry downgraded its ties with Brazil, following the South American country’s rejection of former Israeli Ambassador to Colombia Gali Dagan as Jerusalem’s envoy to Brasilia…
Belgium-born diamond baron Maurice Tempelsman, who for more than a decade was the partner of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, died at 95…
Pic of the Day
Former hostage Keith Siegel looked on at the First Selichot gathering at the Western Wall in Jerusalem last night, at the start of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum’s “National Day of Struggle” taking place today across the country to call attention to the plight of the remaining 50 hostages.
Birthdays
Rapper, known professionally as Kosha Dillz, Rami Matan Even-Esh turns 44…
Rabbi (now emeritus) of Congregation Beth Jacob of Atlanta, he made aliyah in 1991, Rabbi Emanuel Feldman turns 98… CEO of Siegelvision, a brand identity consultancy, he is also the founder and chairman emeritus of global brand strategy firm Siegel+Gale, Alan Siegel turns 87… Owner of You Save On Meds, Martin J. Portnoy… Mayor of Tel Aviv since 1998, Ron Huldai turns 81… Partner at the D.C. law firm of Williams & Connolly, Robert B. Barnett turns 79… Former Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives, Irving Slosberg turns 78… Sales representative for ADT Security, Jay Caplan… Vaudeville performer, clown, mime, juggler and sleight of hand magician, known by his stage name “Avner the Eccentric,” Avner Eisenberg turns 77… Co-owner of Rochester, N.Y.-based August Moon Imports and World Tae Kwon Do Center, Jane Cota August… First vice president of the French Senate from 2020 until 2023, Roger Karoutchi turns 74… Venture capitalist, social policy researcher and philanthropist, Freada Kapor Klein turns 73… Board chair of Gap, a retail chain founded by his parents, Robert J. Fisher turns 71… EVP and managing director of polling and consulting at The Mellman Group, Michael J. Bloomfield… CEO of LawMedia Group (LMG), Julian Epstein turns 64… Journalist and co-author of the “Freakonomics” series, Stephen J. Dubner turns 62… Member of the Maryland Senate since 2020, Michelle “Shelly” Laskin Hettleman turns 61… President of NARAL Pro-Choice America for eight years until 2021, Ilyse Hogue turns 56… CFO at Cornerstone OnDemand, Perry Wallack… Managing partner of Austin-based Texas Venture Partners, Lorne Abony turns 56… Managing partner of RNS Strategies based in Portland, Ore., Robert Sacks… Professor at the Olin Business School of Washington University in St. Louis, Steven Malter turns 52… Deputy general counsel at ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the coordinator of the Internet’s naming system, Samantha Eisner… Co-founder and CEO of Danari Global, Ariel Maurice (“Ari”) Ratner… Founder and CEO of The Lemon Perfect Company, maker of the enhanced water brand Lemon Perfect, Yanni Hufnagel turns 43… Member of the Knesset for Yesh Atid, she served in the previous government as minister for social equality and minorities, Meirav Cohen turns 42… Singer-songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and co-writer for the indie rock band Tally Hall, Robert Howard “Rob” Cantor turns 42… Principal and founder of Inspire Capital and Development, Brielle Joy Appelbaum… Managing partner of Victor Capital Partners, Doug Korn… John Train… Carrie Shapiro…
PM Anthony Albanese blasted the ‘extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil’
HILARY WARDHAUGH/AFP via Getty Images
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during a press conference in Canberra on August 11, 2025.
Australia expelled the Iranian ambassador in Canberra as well as three other embassy staffers on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accusing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of orchestrating attacks on a synagogue in Melbourne and a kosher restaurant in Sydney.
Albanese, speaking at a press conference alongside the country’s top intelligence official, foreign minister and home affairs minister, called the plots “extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil.” The expulsion of Ahmad Sadeghi marks the first time Australia has expelled a foreign ambassador since World War II.
Canberra also withdrew its diplomatic staff from Iran and has encouraged Australian citizens to leave the country if they are able.
Australian intelligence indicates that Tehran was behind additional antisemitic attacks in the country since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks. The country has seen an explosion of antisemitism, with a 316% year-over-year increase in antisemitic incidents in the year following the attacks.
Mike Burgess, the director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, said that the plots were carried out “through a series of overseas cut-out facilitators to coordinators that found their way to tasking Australians,” describing the scheme as a “layer cake” of middlemen originating with the IRGC.
The expulsion of the Iranian diplomats comes shortly after the arrests of two individuals in connection with the December 2024 Melbourne synagogue attack, in which a synagogue was firebombed while nearly two dozen people were inside.
The arson at Sydney’s Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, which took place in October 2024, caused $1 million in damage to the kosher restaurant. Court documents released earlier this month indicate that a middleman, Sayed Moosawi, who was directing the Sydney attack, was to receive $12,000 for his work. Prior to the fire at Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, two men directed by Moosawi mistakenly set fire to a brewery with a similar name to the restaurant.
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