- The Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) has condemned an antisemitic incident in Adelaide's CBD in which two Israeli Australian women were verbally abused by a stranger whilst driving along Hutt Street.
- The incident occurred on Sunday, 23 August 2026, when a man in another car screamed antisemitic abuse at the pair, including the words: You're a f---ing Jew, aren't ye?
- One of the women, M, had travelled to Adelaide from Melbourne specifically to explore whether the city might offer a safer environment amid rising antisemitism in Victoria; the incident has left her shaken and reconsidering that plan.
- ADC Chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich condemned the abuse, warning that the use of Jew as a street insult signals something deeply poisonous has entered Australian society, and that the problem extends beyond the individual perpetrator to the broader atmosphere that enabled his behaviour.
- M has stated she no longer feels safe in Australia, asking: Why do I have to suffer so much just because I was born into a Jewish family?
The Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC), Australia’s leading civil rights organisation fighting antisemitism, has condemned an ugly antisemitic incident in the Adelaide CBD after two Israeli Australians were abused by a stranger while driving on Hutt Street.
The incident occurred at about 12:36pm on Sunday, 23 August 2026.
M, an Israeli Australian living in Melbourne, had travelled to Adelaide because she was considering relocating there, partly because of rising antisemitism in Victoria. Her friend, G, also an Israeli Australian, wanted to show her that Adelaide was a quieter, safer and more peaceful place for Jewish people.
Instead, while travelling along Hutt Street on their way to lunch, the pair were confronted without warning by a man in another car.
Video footage provided to the ADC captures the man shouting: “Come and face me, you f---ing gutless c---. You’re a f---ing Jew, aren’t ye? F---wit!”
M has now told the ADC that the experience has left her shaken and reconsidering whether Adelaide is the safe haven she had hoped it might be. She said. “I no longer feel safe and free in thie country. Why do I have to suffer so much just because I was born into a Jewish family?”
Here is a video of the incident:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rxtsLVWFFg
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, issued the following statement:
“She came to Adelaide looking for safety. Jew-hatred found her before lunch. A Jewish woman, already worn down by the rising tide of antisemitism in Victoria, travelled to Adelaide to see whether life might feel calmer and more normal there. Instead, a stranger screamed through a car window: “You’re a f---ing Jew, aren’t ye?” Perhaps he knew they were Jewish. Perhaps he did not. Either way, that is the horror. He reached for the word “Jew” as an insult. As a curse. As the thing you spit at someone when you want to degrade and dehumanise them. When “Jew” becomes street abuse, shorthand for contempt, something poisonous has entered the bloodstream of this country. The problem is not only the man in the car. The problem is the atmosphere that made him think “Jew” was something you could scream at a stranger. M came looking for a normal life. She found the oldest hatred waiting at the traffic lights.”
Contact details:
Dr Dvir Abramovich
