A bar in Australia has been shut down by police after reportedly displaying posters depicting several prominent figures, including Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, in Nazi uniforms.
Investigators have declared the Dissent Cafe and Bar in the capital, Canberra, a crime scene and have seized the images.
Others show in Third Reich regalia included X owner Elon Musk and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, according to images shared on social media.
There were also signs in the bar’s windows bearing slogans including “sanction Israel” and “stop genocide”.
In a statement, police said officers had asked the bar’s owner to remove the posters, citing a complaint about “possible hate imagery”.
"The owner declined this request, and so a crime scene was established,” it went on.
Police shut Canberra bar for "possible hate imagery"@ACTPolicing seize display posters depicting @POTUS @VP @KremlinRussia_E @netanyahu & @elonmusk as Nazi officers under Commonwealth law on hate symbols. Dissent Cafe & Bar owner had refused to remove posters. @canberratimes pic.twitter.com/FsjGjCe9eI
— Petlee Peter (@petleepeter) February 19, 2026
"Five posters were subsequently seized and will be considered under recently enacted Commonwealth legislation regarding hate symbols.”
The closure was enforced under new hate crime laws, passed by the Australian parliament last February, criminalising the display of Nazi imagery.
Those convicted or displaying such images or making the Nazi salute face a mandatory custodial sentence.
The law does, though, provide an exemption for those using Nazi imagery for a “legitimate purpose”, such as artistic, educational or literary uses.
A spokesperson for Dissent insisted that the images were visibly intended to be satirical, saying: “The crime is displaying these posters, clearly and obviously parody art with a distinct anti-fascist message.”
“It shows you how utterly ridiculous the police force is at missing the point,” owner David Howe told ABC.
The police operation came during British-Israeli former hostage Emily Damari’s ongoing visit to Australia.
The 29-year-old, who was released from Hamas captivity just over one year ago, visited the famous beach, which was the site of an Islamist terror attack that claimed the lives of 15 people on the first night of Chanukah on December 14.
Standing on the bridge where the shooting took place, Damari said: “They thought we would be afraid. That we would bow our heads. That we would stay silent. They were wrong.”
She reflected on the Jewish people, “still standing” after being attacked for thousands of years. “A people shall rise like a lion,” she said, quoting the Torah.
Damari also met a survivor of the Bondi Beach attack, Elon, who survived being shot six times on the day and spent more than 10 days in a coma.
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