I was in Israel during the Iran war – As a Jew, I felt safer there than in Australia

Both Jewish and Iranian diaspora groups have welcomed the news that our government will list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation. However, for many, it feels as though it’s too little, too late.

Having been in Tel Aviv during the Iran-Israel war, I experienced firsthand the danger and brutality of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s regime.

For 12 days and nights, I ran to bomb shelters as ballistic missiles pounded cities across Israel, killing 31 civilians. On the third night of the war, a missile struck less than a mile away from my Airbnb, obliterating several buildings. The impact was the most terrifying sound I’ve ever heard.

I’d travelled to Israel for a journalism fellowship in July, arriving a few weeks early to see friends and family and enjoy Tel Aviv Pride. When the fellowship was inevitably postponed, I decided to stay in Israel rather than try to evacuate. I only returned to Australia at the beginning of August.

Many friends, both in Israel and Australia, questioned whether I felt scared staying in Israel. Truthfully, I was more frightened by the prospect of returning home.

Of course, there can be no overstating how distressing those nights in the bomb shelter were. Many Israelis, although hardened by decades of war and constant rocket attacks, looked petrified as missiles blasted through the Iron Dome. But, despite the fear, what I remember most from those nights is how people took care of one another.

As a solo traveller, I was always invited to sit with people so I wouldn’t be alone. Young people in their twenties brought snacks, card games, and bottles of wine to help pass the time. Parents set up makeshift beds and cosy corners, so their young children could try to get a full night’s sleep. With bomb shelters in most buildings and public spaces, as well as several apps warning of incoming attacks, there was also a sense that Israel was doing everything possible to protect its citizens.

By contrast, Australia has become an increasingly hostile place for Jewish people since October 7. It started only two days after the Hamas massacre, with angry mobs screaming “F*** the Jews” and burning Israeli flags outside the Sydney Opera House.

It quickly escalated to the vandalism of synagogues, Jewish schools and businesses, before the wave of arson attacks, two of which are now confirmed to be terrorist plots by the Iranian regime.

In February, when two Australian nurses were caught on camera bragging about intending to murder Israeli patients, I wasn’t surprised. I’d realised how severe Jew hatred was in Australia within a week of October 7, simply by looking through my Instagram feed. It seemed, to me at least, that every single Australian pro-Palestine organisation had a post that endorsed or defended the Hamas attack.

Many of my non-Jewish friends and acquaintances too, especially those in Melbourne’s ‘progressive’ queer community, posted content on Instagram that denied, justified, or even outright celebrated the Hamas massacre. One acquaintance from the queer scene, who tutored me at university years ago, reposted a tweet saying “Israel was f***ing lying,” about October 7.

Meanwhile, too many of my Jewish friends knew people murdered at the Nova Festival and on the kibbutzim. I’ve since befriended several young Israelis who either survived Nova or served in the IDF as first responders on that day.

When I posted on Instagram to condemn Hamas and support the hostages, dozens of friends and acquaintances unfollowed me. I’d estimate that since October 7, I’ve lost about 80 per cent of my former friends.

Given the rampant antisemitism I’ve experienced both communally and personally since October 7, I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of flying home to Australia. Within days of returning home, the situation only became worse, as tens of thousands of people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for an anti-Israel protest.

Despite being labelled a “March for Humanity,” by organisers, protestors waved the flags of ISIS and Al-Qaeda, while chanting “Death, death, to the IDF”, according to local media reports.

Some of the most disturbing images from the protest show a man at the front of the march, carrying a picture of the Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Those marching alongside him included retired politician Bob Carr, who once served as New South Wales’ premier and Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Just last week, Carr gave an interview to OnePath Network, an Islamic media organisation, claiming that “the Israeli Jewish lobby in Australia is a foreign influence operation”.

“It’s designed to put the interests of Israel above the interests of Australia and foreign policy. No one else has an operation as well funded,” Carr said. “We’re not going to be intimidated by the pressure of the Jewish Lobby in Australia.”

When questioned about his appearance alongside the image portrait of Khamenei, Carr said: “I didn’t notice his picture or recognise him.”

Based on the images from the Sydney march alone, it’s clear that anti-Israel bias, antisemitism and the glorification of Islamist terrorist groups has spiralled out of control in Australia.

While the Australian government has, finally, taken the necessary steps of labelling the IRGC a terrorist organisation and cutting diplomatic ties with Iran, the question is why it’s taken so long.

In an interview on Sky News Australia this week, Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Michaelia Cash hit out at the Labour government’s inaction, arguing that the Opposition advised them to take these steps two years ago.

“State-sponsored terror by the Islamic Republic of Iran has now come to Australia,” Cash said.

“It was all well and good for Mr Albanese to go out there today and announce his government was going to list the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation, but he also should have apologised to Australians for not heeding the Opposition’s calls over two and a half years ago when we told him this should be done.”

In Israel, despite the immediate, horrifying threat of incoming missile attacks, I felt as though I was surrounded by people with my best interests at heart. I felt protected by a government and a military that truly understands the threat that the Islamic Republic of Iran poses not only to Jews, but to the entire Western world.

Back home in Australia, I feel none of that certainty. I don’t know if I ever will again.

Gideon Cohen is a freelance journalist based in Melbourne, Australia. His work has appeared in publications including The Jewish Independent and Broadsheet Australia.