Community message
- Published January 19 2025
- Community Message
HOPEFUL
As I write this message, we are hopeful that the negotiated deal will soon see all the hostages brought home to Israel. We will sleep easier once we know the remaining hostages have been reunited with their families. Until then, the hostages and their families remain in our prayers.
JCCV CEO Naomi Levin spoke to Raf Epstein on ABC Melbourne radio during the week about our community’s response to news of the deal.
PROTESTS TO CONTINUE
I was frustrated to hear in the media that the pro-Palestinian mob plans to continue its disruptive and offensive demonstrations through Melbourne’s CBD even after the implementation of a negotiated agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The JCCV continues to push the Government, City of Melbourne and Victoria Police to find a way to reclaim the city from these troublemakers.
WORKING WITH ADASS
The JCCV has been working extensively with the Adass Israel community to help them get back on their feet following December’s terrorist attack. We are working together to ensure the congregation has a safe temporary place to pray and learn, while the Adass Israel leaders plan for the future of their synagogue. The JCCV will work with them for as long as it takes to help them get back on their feet.
This week, I hosted Julian Leeser MP, who had flown down from Sydney, to visit the Adass Israel community and witness the devastation for himself. Julian is our community’s greatest advocate in the federal Coalition and we thank him for his extensive and principled work on all our behalf.
WORKING WITH POLICE
I consider one of my most important tasks to be working with police to ensure those who commit anti-Jewish crimes are held to account.
The JCCV continues to receive updates on progress in the Adass Israel attack investigation. We are hopeful that police will provide us with information that we can share with the community in coming days.
I am also working closely with police who are investigating threats against our community from neo-Nazi actors.
I absolutely believe that for our community to be safe, police must urgently arrest and charge the perpetrators of the many anti-Jewish crimes we are witnessing.
