Hundreds of local government councillors, including mayors and assorted political and religious leaders, will gather on the Gold Coast for a free three-day conference on antisemitism in September. Many of them will have accepted a personal invitation from the Combat Antisemitism Movement’s (CAM) Israeli CEO in Tel Aviv.

According to the conference website, registrations have now closed.

CAM boasts 900 partners and runs regular conferences. One of its key aims is to integrate what it regards as the “gold standard” International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism at every level of government.

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The definition has been widely criticised, including by its lead drafter, for conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism.

Australia’s Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, is part of the Combat Antisemitism movement, and will be a keynote speaker. Her own recently-released Action Plan reflects CAM’s agenda. If implemented, those identified by the Australian government, per Segal’s advice, as antisemitic according to the IHRA definition, could face serious consequences.

These include the defunding of public institutions and universities, the deregistration of charities, and the enforcement of certain approved media narratives.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (EACAJ) is a conference partner with CAM. Its pro-Israel published policies include that it “Reaffirms Australian Jewry’s strong and unshakeable solidarity with Israel and her people”; “Condemns the prevalence of anti-Jewish rhetoric in sections of the mass-media which masquerades as political criticism of Israel”; and condemns the International Criminal Court as antisemitic, following its prosecution of Israeli war crimes.

Segal’s role as EJAC’s immediate past president was one of the conflicts of interest that, some argue,........

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