Australian healthcare workers push back on regulator's adoption of antisemitism definition

In Australia, the body which is responsible for investigating complaints made about registered health professionals is the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra).  On 17 June 2026, Ahpra released a statement which read, in part: “Ahpra has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism as a reference tool, supported by the Special Envoy’s handbook to support a consistent understanding of antisemitism in its contemporary forms in our regulatory work.”  In backing up the statement (and affirming Aphra’s commitment to co-ordinating policy with Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Ms Jillian Segal AO) Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner said: “Antisemitism costs lives and has no place in healthcare. Ahpra is committed to working with the Special Envoy and partners to eliminate antisemitism from the health system, because everyone should feel safe when accessing care.”

Although it should not be a point of contention for a healthcare regulator to adopt a firm position on antisemitism, the move has sparked furious backlash from doctors, health workers and civil liberties groups.  Similar backlash has also arisen in the United Kingdom.  On 24 June 2026, The Jerusalem Post ran an article which pointed to a motion passed by The British Medical Association calling for an investigation into the use of the IHRA antisemitism definition in the National Health Service, citing concerns over free expression among staff.  You see, healthcare workers, both here and in the UK claim that by adopting the IHRA definition, it limits their ability to criticise Israel.

As is the case with the aforementioned examples in the UK and Australia, anti-Zionists often nuance their opposition to Israel by claiming it has nothing to do with antisemitism.  But it does.  It is simply the modern adaptation of it.  You see, in the past, Jews were discriminated against based on their faith and their ethnicity.  Since 1948 we have seen the rise of national antisemitism where Jews are now hated because of the mere existence of the State of Israel.  Though people may claim it is distinct from traditional forms of antisemitism, national antisemitism is the same ancient hatred which people try to legitimise under the guise of socially acceptable criticism of Israeli government policy.  Yet, even if antisemites fail to whip up global hatred of Israel, Yaakov Hagoel of the World Zionist Organisation warned that “the goal of the haters of Israel” is to “lower the spirit” of the Jewish people, and cause it to turn its back on its Jewish and Zionist identity, “in order to destroy the continuity of the Jewish people.”   

Chris Katulka, writing in the May/June 2025 edition of the Israel My Glory magazine said: “Israel is not merely a geographic location; it is central to God’s redemptive plan. Likewise, the Jewish people are not merely a nation; they are a people chosen by God and bound to Him through an everlasting covenant. To disregard or oppose Israel and the Jewish people is to disregard what God has declared holy.”  Simply put, many people look at the issue of anti-Zionism and antisemitism as a political issue.  But the reality is that it is a spiritual issue and what is lost on those who harbour hatred towards Israel is that they will be required to give an account before God. 

Although we might point to the immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah as the perceived tipping point of God’s wrath, His final judgement is closely connected to the land of Israel and the Jewish people.  In fact, the prophet Joel provided a vivid and sobering picture of an end times event in which God will judge the nations based on how they treated the Jewish people and sought to arrogantly deal with the land of Israel. Joel 3:1-2 says: For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgement with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land.

Most people imagine that God will judge them after they die. And for most people, that will be true. However, the judgment of the nations is a judgment of the living which will occur after the Second Advent of Christ.  Upon His return, Christ will call into His hall of justice every Gentile who survives the Tribulation Period. This judgment will determine which Gentiles are fit to enter the glorious Millennial Kingdom and which will be sent into everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46).  Joel states that God will gather all the nations to be judged.  But it must not be understood as a judgment of national groups of people (i.e. countries). The word “nations” implies Gentiles, and the context indicates that individuals, not groups, will be evaluated.  Though international tribunals of the earthly kind have been used as tools to persecute the Jewish people, this will be an international tribunal of a different, divine kind.  It will not be concerned with so-called human rights, but its purpose is to review the attitudes and actions of Gentile peoples towards the Lord’s brethren, specifically during the Tribulation Period (Matthew 25:40). 

When it comes to the matter of Israel, we wholeheartedly believe the Word of God concerning the fulfilment of His promises to the Jewish nation.  Though we take no delight in seeing hatred and animosity directed towards the Jewish people in these closing days, we may take comfort in knowing that God’s plan for Israel will prevail.