An Israeli man has said he was called a “baby killer” and kicked out of a Melbourne hair salon by its owner last week after she realized where he was from, the latest in a series of incidents involving Australia’s Jewish and Israeli communities.
According to the Ynet news site, the man — who asked not to be publicly named — said the owner of the salon recognized his accent and began her tirade, at which point he told her that she was parroting talking points from the Hamas terror group.
“This is Hamas propaganda. Why should we kill babies? Let them release the hostages, and then the war will end, but they don’t want that,” the man reportedly told the woman, whose salon specializes in curly hair and is located in Bentleigh, an area with a sizable Jewish and Israeli community.
Speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, the man said that he was asked to leave when he confirmed he had served in the Israel Defense Forces, adding that he was not surprised by the incident.
“She asked if I served in the army, I told her yes, and she told me to get out. It developed from there,” he told Kan. “I’ve lived in Australia for six years. I’ve seen antisemitism here a few times, it didn’t really surprise me. There’s a lot of hatred of Israelis and Jews here.”
“From the Australians I’ve met, it seems like they like us quite a bit. The big protests you see here are either extreme leftists or Muslim immigrants,” he claimed.
According to the Australian Jewish News, a pro-Israel group gathered some 150 demonstrators outside the Juniper Salon on Monday evening to protest against the conduct of the owner.
The man who was kicked out the salon — which displays stickers priding itself on progressive values — told the outlet that he intended to pursue legal action.
Sky News Australia noted that it was illegal to discriminate on the basis of race and nationality.
Monday’s protest came amid an escalating diplomatic spat between Israel and Australia after Canberra on Monday barred an Israeli lawmaker from entering the country.
Australia announced that it was banning far-right Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman from visiting the country, hours before he was supposed to travel there for a series of appearances.
In response, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar decided to revoke the residency visas of Australia’s representatives to the Palestinian Authority. Both Australian diplomats representing Canberra to the PA live in Israel, despite holding offices in Ramallah, according to Channel 12 news.
Sa’ar accused the Australian government of fanning antisemitism and wrote on X that he had also instructed Israel’s embassy in Canberra “to carefully examine any official Australian visa application for entry to Israel.�
It was unclear if the policy would affect all Australian requests or only those from Australian officials.
The Australian government has taken an increasingly critical stance toward Israel in recent weeks, including announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state next month, alongside a number of other Western nations.
Australia has also seen rising antisemitic attacks in recent years, leading to tensions between the government and the Jewish community.