Supporters of Hamas gather for a rally in Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Reuters/Joel Carrett

Amid a meteoric rise in antisemitic outrages in Australia following the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in southern Israel, more than 600 of the country’s prominent personalities have signed an open letter denouncing antisemitism and racism.

Published in several major newspapers, the letter underlines that in the seven weeks since the atrocities, antisemitic activity in Australia increased by 482 percent — a figure that rose again on Tuesday to 591 percent, according to the most recent tally of incidents by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ).

It notes that the Australian Jewish community “has been a vital part of Australia’s diverse cultural landscape for over 200 years, making significant contributions across business, the arts, medicine, and public service.”

However, “since Oct. 7, there has been a concerning rise in antisemitic incidents throughout Australia. Across the country, there have been a staggering number of reports which detail offensive language, harassment, threats, and appalling vandalism at significant landmarks across Australia,” the letter states.

Signatories to the letter include media mogul Lachlan Murdoch; key business leaders in banking, finance, and other sectors; Jewish leaders; and national politicians, among them former Queensland premier Anna Bligh, former Victoria premier Ted Bailleu, and former New South Wales premier Mike Baird.

The letter addresses “our Jewish employees, business partners, customers, and all who are affected,” acknowledging “the heightened feelings of threat being felt by your community right now” and affirming “your right to physical and psychological safety.”

As well as physical assaults, including the beating of a Jewish man in Sydney at the hands of a pro-Hamas mob on Oct. 28, Australia’s Jewish community of 100,000 has endured verbal abuse, attacks on property, and threats of gun violence. In one notorious episode in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas atrocities, hundreds of pro-Hamas protesters gathered outside the Sydney Opera House chanting “gas the Jews,” “f—k the Jews,” and other epithets.

The publication of the letter on Tuesday coincided with the Australian government’s announcement that giving a Nazi salute will now be treated as a criminal offense.

“No one will be allowed to glorify or profit from acts and symbols which celebrate the Nazis and their evil ideology,” Australian Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement. “There is absolutely no place in Australia for hatred, violence, and antisemitism.”

Similar legislation was introduced at the state level earlier this month in Victoria. The law has already been used to charge a 24-year-old Melbourne man who gave a Nazi salute outside a court in the city on Oct. 27.