When Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke denies visas to Israelis, he likes to insist that Australia will not “import hate.” Yet how does that square with his fundamental duty to keep Australians safe, particularly after the Bondi Beach terrorist attack on the first night of Hanukkah last year and after the government rushed through new hate-speech laws?

At the time, I warned that if those hastily introduced laws did not ensure the prosecution of Islamic clerics preaching anti-Jewish rhetoric, they would be little more than political theatre. Australia already had hate speech laws, the problem was that they were rarely enforced against radical figures like Sheikh Dadoun and Wissam Haddad.

Dadoun has repeatedly called Jews “enemies of Islam” and exhorted Muslims to reject any association with them, describing them collectively as deceitful, hostile, and conspiratorial. He also led celebrations following the October 7 attacks on Israel, further highlighting his alignment with violent antisemitic rhetoric. Dadoun was “elated” at the violent and barbaric slaughter of 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of 250 hostages into Gaza.

Haddad, of Sydney’s Al Madina Dawah Centre, portrayed Jews as “treacherous,” “vile,” and “mischievous” in his lecture series The Jews of Al-Madina, even citing an apocalyptic hadith: “There is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.” In 2025, the Federal Court found Haddad’s lectures breached the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and ordered the content removed. Reporting also notes that one of the Bondi attackers, Naveed Akram, had previously been exposed to Haddad’s preaching, though authorities insist Haddad had no prior knowledge of the attack.

Yet just a week ago, Bangladeshi preacher Mizanur Rahman Azhari entered Australia for a national speaking tour, including........

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