Behind this Calm Voice Lies the Most Anti-Israel Agenda Australia Has Ever Seen
No shouting. No theatrics. Just a calm, relentless dismantling of Israel's standing in Australia. Inside Larissa Waters' quiet crusade and what it means for Jewish Australians right now.
The Australian Jewish Community continues to struggle against a tidal wave of anti-Israel sentiment. Israeli President Isaac Herzog will soon be visiting Australia. There will be nationwide protests that will be unmatched in their intensity, anger, hatred and vitriol against the Jewish State and the Australian Jewish Community.
The Australian Greens are leading the charge with all of this. When Larissa Waters stepped into the leadership of this radical left-wing party, many expected a calmer, less combative presence than her predecessor. And that’s exactly what she delivered.
Where former leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt, was loud, snappy and confrontational, Waters is measured, more softly spoken and restrained. This is the kind of “quiet leadership” praised in boardrooms and management journals. Quiet leadership can be highly effective in the corporate world. It’s all about influence without bluster. Persuasion without heat.
But quiet doesn’t mean moderate.
Bandt made Israel a constant political target. It was pathological in nature. I was one of many members of the Australian Jewish Community who breathed a sigh of relief when Bandt lost his seat of Melbourne at the last federal election. Bandt frequently accused Israel of apartheid and genocide while pushing for sanctions and boycotts. For many Jewish Australians, the focus felt relentless and disproportionate. Waters hasn’t changed the substance of that agenda. She has simply softened the delivery.
The Greens’ own platform calls for sanctions on Israel, halting defence exports and what it labels Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza. The language is absolute. The position is uncompromising. Only the tone of leadership has changed.
In October 2025, appearing on ABC’s Insiders, Waters again described Israel’s actions as genocide and argued Australia should impose sanctions. When asked about rising antisemitism following attacks on Jewish communities overseas, she pivoted back to criticism of Israel rather than directly addressing Jewish safety (SBS News, 6 Oct 2025).
Even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, himself sharply critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, publicly rebuked her comments as “undignified." When a prime minister already willing to criticise Israel and dismantle the decades long relationship between our two nations draws that line, it says something.
Soon after, Waters called for the possible expulsion of Israel’s ambassador over detained Australians involved in a Gaza flotilla, an unusually hostile diplomatic move delivered in calm, procedural language. The list of her anti-Israel actions goes on and on.
This is the paradox of her leadership. Nothing sounds angry. She drives extreme anti-Israel policies in a measured tone. Yet the cumulative message consistently singles out the world’s only Jewish state for exceptional condemnation while antisemitism rises at home. Without a genuine, viable and cohesive alternative government in opposition to truly advocate for the Australian Jewish Community and the legitimacy of the Jewish State, the horizon looks grim when it comes to feeling truly safe as a Jew in this country. Waters goes about her business to erode Jewish interests at every opportunity.
Tone matters. But substance matters more.
Quiet leadership can build trust. It can also mask ideology.
Soft voices can still carry sharp consequences and that’s exactly why Larissa Waters deserves close attention.